Nominalisation is an important feature of academic writing. It adds variety, objectivity and an impersonal tone to texts. Nominalisation also makes writing more reader-friendly and concise by allowing writers to pack a great deal of information into sentences. Nominalisation is the formation of a noun phrase from a clause or a verb. This is done by changing verbs(and adjectives) to nouns. So, using noun phrases instead of verbs is known as nominalisation.
Example;
The downturn in the economy caused the company’s problems. (verb)
The downturn in the economy was the cause of the company’s problems. (nominalisation)
Note: Nouns that end in -ion, -ment, -tion, -ence, -ancy, -ant often change them into verbs.
Example:
Take into consideration — consider
Undertake an analysis of — analyse
Some nominalisations are useful, but others make our writing unnecessarily wordy. An example of a useful nominalisation is:
• The discovery is a breakthrough.
Some nominalisations that don’t work well, but are easy to fix are:
1. When the nominalisation follows a verb with little specific meaning.
We undertook an investigation.
We investigated.
2. When the nominalisation follows There is or There are.
There was a committee agreement.
The committee agreed.
3. When the nominalisation is the subject of an ‘empty’ verb.
Our discussion concerned a bonus.
We discussed a bonus.
Nominalisation is an important feature of academic writing. It adds variety, objectivity and an impersonal tone to texts. Nominalisation also makes writing more reader-friendly and concise by allowing writers to pack a great deal of information into sentences. Nominalisation is the formation of a noun phrase from a clause or a verb. This is done by changing verbs(and adjectives) to nouns. So, using noun phrases instead of verbs is known as nominalisation.
Example;
The downturn in the economy caused the company’s problems. (verb)
The downturn in the economy was the cause of the company’s problems. (nominalisation)
Note: Nouns that end in -ion, -ment, -tion, -ence, -ancy, -ant often change them into verbs.
Example:
Take into consideration — consider
Undertake an analysis of — analyse
Some nominalisations are useful, but others make our writing unnecessarily wordy. An example of a useful nominalisation is:
• The discovery is a breakthrough.
Some nominalisations that don’t work well, but are easy to fix are:
1. When the nominalisation follows a verb with little specific meaning.
We undertook an investigation.
We investigated.
2. When the nominalisation follows There is or There are.
There was a committee agreement.
The committee agreed.
3. When the nominalisation is the subject of an ‘empty’ verb.
Our discussion concerned a bonus.
We discussed a bonus.