Fire burned, smoke rose, ashes fell.

Meaning: This sentence describes a series of events: a fire burning, smoke rising, and ashes falling.

Choice of Words: Burned is a verb describing the process of something being consumed by fire. Rose is a verb describing the upward movement of smoke. Fell is a verb describing the downward movement of ashes.

Alternative Expressions

The fire danced and crackled, sending smoke billowing into the air. Ashes rained down on the ground.

Meaning: This sentence describes how a fire burns and what happens to the smoke and ashes.

Choice of Words: The fire danced and crackled to show how it was moving and making noise. Smoke billowing into the air means the smoke was moving quickly and in a large amount. Ashes rained down on the ground to show how they were falling from the sky like rain.

Flames leaped and licked at the logs, sending up a thick cloud of smoke. Embers floated in the air like tiny fireflies, and ash drifted down like snow.

Meaning: This sentence describes a fire burning and what happens to the smoke, embers, and ash.

Choice of Words: Flames leaped and licked at the logs to show how the fire was moving and burning the logs. A thick cloud of smoke means there was a lot of smoke. Embers floated in the air like tiny fireflies to show how they were moving and glowing. Ash drifted down like snow to show how it was falling from the sky.

Related Expressions