Practical Vim

Tip 12

Combine and Conquer

Much of Vim’s power stems from the way that operators and motions can be combined. In this tip, we’ll look at how this works and consider the implications.

Operator + Motion = Action

The d{motion} command can operate on a single character (dl), a complete word (daw), or an entire paragraph (dap). Its reach is defined by the motion. The same goes for c{motion}, y{motion}, and a handful of others. Collectively, these commands are called operators. You can find the complete list by looking up operator​, while Table 2, ​Vim’s Operator Commands​, summarizes some of the more common ones.

Table 2. Vim’s Operator Commands