The operator-motion paradigm is central to Vim/Neovim efficiency. An operator is a verb (what to do), and a motion is the subject (where to do it). Combine them: operator + motion = command.

d — delete, y — yank (copy), c — change (delete and insert), v — visual (select), > — indent right, < — indent left.

Each operator can be doubled to act on the line: dd, yy, cc, >>, <<.

Operators also work with text objects:

dw          " delete word
y2e         " yank to end of next word
c3j         " change next 3 lines
>ip         " indent paragraph

Text objects describe structural chunks of text, independent of cursor position. They work with operators.

Motions: w (word), s (sentence), p (paragraph).

Brackets: (), [], {}, <> — jump to or select between them. di( deletes inside parens. da( deletes including parens (delete-around).

Pairs: i' (inside quotes), a' (including quotes), i", a", i` , a` .

Inside vs around: i for inside (not including delimiters), a for around (including delimiters).

di(          " delete inside parens
ca"new"      " change "string" → new"
yip          " yank inside paragraph
dit          " delete inside tags

d2w — delete 2 words. y$ — yank to end of line. c0 — change from start of line.

di{ — delete contents of braces (useful in code). c2i) — change twice-nested parens.

>5j — indent next 5 lines. < for un-indent.

Visual mode + operators: select text with v, then press operator. Often simpler for complex selections.

" Common patterns
ci"hello"    " change inside quotes → hello"
d3w          " delete 3 words
>G           " indent rest of file
yt;          " yank until semicolon

Counts: prefix with numbers. 5dd or d5d both delete 5 lines. Works with motions: 5w moves 5 words, d5w deletes 5 words.

Marks: :mark a (or ma) sets mark, ` a jumps to mark. Marks are persistent (:marks lists them).