privateList<String>strings; When the cursor is on the S of String, use ciW to deleteList<String> and start insert. Obviously, you can use any othercommand with that movement, for example yank the text (yiW) or deleteit (diW). From :help WORD: A WORD consists of a sequence of non-blank characters, separated withwhite space. An empty line is also considered to be a WORD.