The Universal Grammar
[count] [register] operator [count] motion
Vim is a tiny language: verbs (operators) compose with nouns (motions and text objects). Once you see the grammar, every key falls into place.
Almost every command in Vim follows one shape:
| Key | Note |
|---|---|
| [count] | |
| ["reg] | |
| operator | |
| [count] | |
| motion |
Read it as a sentence: do this thing, optionally to register r, this many times, to this stretch of text. (Registers are named clipboards — the "a prefix means "into register a"; the full treatment is in Part 12.) Concrete examples:
| Command | Reads as |
|---|---|
| dw | Delete one word forward |
| 3dw | Delete three words forward |
| d3w | Delete three words forward (counts multiply, but here one of them is 1) |
| ciw | Change the inner word the cursor is on |
| y$ | Yank from cursor to end of line |
| >ip | Indent inner paragraph |
| "ayy | Yank this line into register a |
| gUiw | Uppercase the inner word |
The verbs (operators)
| Operator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| d | Delete (cut) |
| c | Change (delete then enter Insert) |
| y | Yank (copy) |
| > | Indent right |
| < | Indent left |
| = | Auto-indent / format |
| gU | Uppercase |
| gu | Lowercase |
| g~ | Toggle case |
| gq | Format (line-wrap) |
| ! | Filter through external command |
The nouns (motions and text objects)
Anything that moves the cursor in Normal mode is a motion. After an operator, the same motion describes the range the operator acts on. So w alone moves the cursor a word forward; dw deletes the same span.
| Noun kind | Examples |
|---|---|
| Word / WORD | w, b, e, W, B, E |
| Line | 0, ^, $, _, g_ |
| File | gg, G, {nG} |
| Find on line | f{char}, F{char}, t{char}, T{char}, ;, , |
| Search | /pattern, ?pattern, n, N, *, # |
| Sentence / paragraph | (, ), {, } |
| Bracket match | % |
| Inner / around text object | iw, aw, i", a(, ip, at |
Worked example — operator + motion = sentence
The grammar in three keystrokes.
Normal mode. We will run d-w: the delete operator with the word motion.
Operator d (verb) plus motion w (noun). Same grammar applies for any operator+motion pair.
Swap the operator for gU (uppercase), keep motion w. Free upgrade — every motion works with every operator.
See also: The Vim Grammar, Delete, Change, Yank and Put, Inner Word vs A Word