Vim command: how to select a word under cursor in normal mode

You can use * and/or # to search for the word under the cursor or viw to visually select the word under the cursor.

viw does a visual select inside the word. Similarly yiw copies (yanks) the word.

Personally, I am prefering vaw, yaw instead of viw or yiw as a indicates around.

On the similar lines. I use

vat to select tag. va( or va{ v% to select matching closing tag. In some other places ev%

It is making more sense to me as the intention is to select the complete word not inside.

At the end, it all comes down to our personal preference.

To select a word under a cursor I use the combination of bve

Be aware though that if the cursor points to a first character you just need ve combination.