Nominalisation: from verbs to nouns
Prices rose sharply → a sharp rise in prices: turning verbs and adjectives into nouns in formal writing.
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Nominalisation means expressing an action or a quality with a noun instead of a verb or an adjective. Formal and academic English uses it a lot: it makes a text more compact and impersonal, and lets an idea become the subject of the next sentence. Conversation uses far fewer nominalisations.
Verb or adjective | Noun |
|---|---|
Prices rose sharply. | There was a sharp rise in prices. |
The council decided to close the library. | The council's decision to close the library ... |
They arrived late, so ... | Because of their late arrival, ... |
The forest is being destroyed. | The destruction of the forest ... |
The water was very pure. | The purity of the water ... |
What changes with the noun
When a verb becomes a noun, other words change with it.
- The verb becomes a noun: decide → decision, fail → failure, arrive → arrival.
- An adverb becomes an adjective: rose sharply → a sharp rise; arrived late → late arrival.
- The subject becomes a possessive or an of phrase: the government announced → the government's announcement / the announcement by the government.
- The object becomes an of phrase: they destroyed the forest → the destruction of the forest.
Some nouns have the same form as the verb: increase, decrease, change, delay, demand, rise, fall, release, use.
Nouns and the prepositions after them
Many of these nouns are followed by a fixed preposition, which is often not the one a translation suggests.
Noun | Preposition | Example |
|---|---|---|
rise, fall, increase, decrease, drop, reduction, change | in | a rise in unemployment |
increase, rise (by an amount) | of | an increase of 5% |
solution, answer, approach, access, damage | to | a solution to the problem |
effect, impact, influence, ban, tax | on | the effect on sales |
demand, need, reason, request, respect | for | a demand for change |
cause, lack, knowledge, use | of | the cause of the fire |
- Incorrect: There has been an increase of prices.
- Correct: There has been an increase in prices.In names what goes up; of gives the amount: an increase of 5%.
- Incorrect: We need a solution of this problem.
- Correct: We need a solution to this problem.
- Incorrect: The new law had a big effect to small businesses.
- Correct: The new law had a big effect on small businesses.
Verbs that go with the nouns
A nominalised sentence still needs a verb, usually a common one that collocates with the noun.
- The police carried out an investigation.
The police investigated.
- The two sides reached an agreement after long talks.
- The government took action to reduce traffic.
- The study raised concerns about air quality.
- The manager gave no explanation for the delay.
Nouns that carry the argument
A noun can sum up the last sentence and make it the starting point of the next one. This is one of the main ways academic texts hold together.
- The company cut its prices by 20%. This decision led to a sharp increase in sales.
- Unemployment fell for the third year running. The fall was greatest among young people.
- Many residents complained about the noise. These complaints were ignored.
Don't overdo it
Too many nouns in a row make a sentence hard to read. Keep a verb where it says the same thing more clearly.
- There was a discussion of the possibility of the introduction of a fee.
Three of-phrases in a row are hard to follow.
- We discussed introducing a fee.
Clearer, with the same meaning.
- The implementation of the reduction of costs is our priority.
Heavy.
- Reducing costs is our priority.
Clear.