[wryanzimmerman]

The vim equivalent of that is visual mode, eg `vwd` which is exactly the same structure as you’re saying you want from kakoune.

So vim is verb-noun for simple things, but if you want, you can use visual mode if you’re doing something more complex or just want visual confirmation first.

[schnubbidubb]

That's exactly what I do, because I need the visual confirmation and can't really wrap my head around it otherwise.

Sometimes when I don't realize I'm in insert mode, I jump around the document and don't know what just happened. Visual cues in-between would have been nice, so I don't always feel as surprised as I do, lol.

Although I don't know if in that particular fiddly case it would have any benefit.

[lawn]

Not noticing that I'm in insert mode isn't something I can remember struggling with.

There are different solutions for it:

- Obsessively press escape so you're always in normal mode

- Style the statusline so it's very colorful when you're not in normal mode

- Have the cursor be "fat" when in normal mode and "thin" when in insert mode (isn't this the default?)

Even though I've been using Vim for 15 years or so I also enter visual mode for some commands. It's quite useful, but not necessary all the time (like di" for instance).

[chaxor]

Mapping escape key to another key is always useful

[taskforcegemini]

or use a vim-clutch

[davisoneee]

If you have a reasonably long `updatetime`, you could try something like `autocommand CursorHoldI * stopinsert`.

On both vim and nvim, updatetime is 4 seconds, so if you have 4 seconds of inactivity that autocommand will automatically put you back into normal mode.

[eviks]

Not an equivalent, visual mode extends selection on move, so you can't stay in perma visual mode like you can in the Helix/Kakoune world where extending selection is different