命令 y3s 在 Vim 中以普通模式复制三行

Question

According to Vim's Verb, Noun, and Modifier logic the command y3s should potentially copy three sentences, but in my version of Vim it doesn't do that. I am wondering if there is a reason for it. Looking up online it seems like there are other ways to copy a specific number of sentences, but I am curious why this approach doesn't work. Thanks!

Answer 1

Several misconceptions here. First, there is a difference between motions and text objects .

A motion ( :help navigation ) is a command that changes the position of the cursor: l for right, j for down, ) for sentence forward, 2Fx backward to before-previous x in the same line, /foo/e+2<CR> forward to 2 characters after the end of next foo , w start of next word. Commands whose argument is a motion operate on the text span from the current position to the new motion-specified position. dw thus deletes from current position to the start of the next word.

A text object ( :help text-objects ) specifies a semantic unit of text; it typically consists of two keypresses, the first of which is i (inside, inner) or a (a, an, around). i" inside double quotes, a( around parenthesis, is inner sentence (ie without spaces around it), 2aw twice a word. Thus daw delete around this word (including the space), or simpler, delete a word.

The difference is clear: if you are in the middle of a word, eg Some peng|uins fly (with | representing the cursor), dw gives you Some peng|fly (deleting from cursor to start of the next word), while daw gives you Some |fly (deleting the entire word penguins , along with the next space because of the "around" modifier). diw would give you Some | fly Some | fly (not including the space into the deletion).

As you'll note, "sentence" has a different mapping in text motions ( ( sentence backward, ) sentence forward) and text objects ( is inner sentence, as a sentence). Meanwhile, ( as a text object, equivalently to ) and b , is everything inside, or around, parentheses; and s as a text motion does not exist by default.

Thus, y2s is not a known mapping, since you are deleting by motion (no i or a ), and there is no motion s ; it will not do anything.

You can use y2) , which would yank about a sentence and a half (ie from cursor to the start of the second next sentence); or you can use y2as to yank the current sentence and the next sentence and a space after it; or y2is for the same except without that last space; but you cannot use y2s . (You can also write all of those as 2y) , 2yas , 2yis .)

In y2y (or equivalently 2yy ), the second y is the duplication of the operator. It is almost a rule in Vim that the motion equal to the operator is a line: yy yank a line, dd delete a line, gqgq (or gqq ) reformat a line, == filter a line, gugu (or guu ) uppercase a line etc. The reason is a simple convenience: lines are what we operate on most frequently, and it's hard to make a faster incantation than the same key pressed twice. Thus, the second y by itself does not have a meaning: it signifies that the first y is working on lines (thus y2y or 2yy yank two lines).

The whole :help motion.txt page is a very useful read, I heartily recommend it.

Answer 2

If you want to copy 3 lines, you should do y3y , not y3s . y stands for Yank or copy.

Update,

@Amadan 's answer has more explanation and also for why y3y works.

Answer 3

Simpley 3Y will do, where Y will yank a line and 3 will repeat it 3 times. In Vim there are no sentences, only lines, words, and characters.