How it works

One rule, checked on the server: every published post must contain at least 35% verbs, across at least 8 eligible words. Exactly 35% is enough.

What counts

· Verbs count whether they describe an action or a state: ran, decides, was, has.
· Only eligible words are measured — links, handles, emoji, punctuation and bare numbers are excluded.
· Exactly 35% passes. Anything below 35% does not.
· Replies shorter than 8 words are exempt as quick replies.
· Images, GIFs and captions never bypass the check. Alt text counts toward the word total.

Why verbs

Verbs move a sentence. They say who acted, what changed and what happened next. A timeline short of verbs fills up with opinion that never lands anywhere: “there were issues with the process” instead of “the committee rejected the budget and sent it back”. Writing verb-first makes a claim testable, because someone has to have done something.

Passes

We remember. We rebuild. We edit. Memory bends, shifts and flatters us.
Trains leave. Shops open. Libraries lend. Parks fill. Mornings announce the city.

Fails

I think this is really interesting and I wanted to share it because it feels important.
Honestly, the whole situation feels like a great deal right now, and I just wanted to mention it to everybody here.

The meter names the thinnest sentences and suggests what to add. Nothing publishes until the draft clears the line.

An experiment, stated plainly

Verb share is a hypothesis, not a proof. The bar is fixed at 35% — this page, the meter, the reply box and the check that runs when you press Post all use the same calculation. We publish the number on every post so the experiment stays visible.

Part-of-speech tagging is statistical. It will occasionally mislabel a borderline word; that is a limitation of the measurement, not a judgement about your writing.

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