Illustrative Context

The wood is burning in the fire.

Target Sense

• The most generic, neutral intransitive verb for the process of combustion of material, the process that changes an object like wood from its natural state into ashes.

• In many languages this will correspond to a middle voice or reflexive: e.g. Spanish quemarse.

• Avoid intensifying terms for burning especially strongly or brightly: e.g. blaze, Spanish arder.

• Avoid figurative terms for 'burning' with emotion, desire, anger etc.: e.g. Spanish arder.

• Avoid non-neutral terms for burning seen as dangerous and undesirable: e.g. be on fire.

• Avoid terms that explicitly stress completeness and/or destruction: e.g. burn up, burn down.

• Avoid inchoatives or causatives: e.g. catch fire, set on fire, light.

• Avoid technical and scientific terms: e.g. combust.