Changing a selection

Often you don’t just want to delete text — you want something else in its place. That’s what c does: it deletes the selection and drops you into insert mode so you can type the replacement.

To change something:

• make a selection
• press c
• type the new text
• hit Escape to return to normal mode

e is a good motion to pair with c. Where w selects through the space after a word, e stops at the word’s last letter, so the space survives and your replacement slots neatly into the sentence.

e selects from wherever the cursor is, so it only grabs the whole word when the cursor sits on the first letter. If it is on a space or in the middle of a word — which is where w and Escape tend to leave it — press b first to back up to the start of the word, then e.

Work through the checklist below, and keep an eye on the statusline as you go.