I habitually use visual mode for a lot of stuff like that so quick flash shows me what was affected (in case of typo). If the highlighted part isn't what I expected I instantly know to undo, rather than having to think about the resulting text for a moment.

Same. Which shows a weakness of vim, I think it’d be much more usable if it had the verb last: iw would select the word then you can delete, yank, or even extend the selection knowing exactly what you’re going to operate on.

I think kakoune works like that, but I don’t have the will to learn another editor and vi is what’s available everywhere anyway

The problem with Kakoune-like object-action order is that you need more modifier keys.

vi"p or vi"P is a great way to overwrite "" contents with the contents of your unnamed register

it's fun, I have had vim-surround installed for years but keep forgetting how that it exists.

surround and sneak are my desert island vim plugins