[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"grammar-page-en-nominalisation-and-noun-based-style":3,"grammar-exercises-by-page-01a0e1ab-d5e5-73b5-b5bc-53d16d704466":25,"exercise-list-path-en-none":46},{"id":4,"title":5,"slug":6,"seoDescription":7,"content":8,"language":9,"level":10,"displayOrder":11,"grammarTopics":12,"createdAt":19,"updatedAt":20,"vocabularyLists":21,"primaryTopicHub":22,"readyImages":24},"01a0e1ab-d5e5-73b5-b5bc-53d16d704466","Nominalisation and Noun-Based Style","nominalisation-and-noun-based-style","Learn how nominalisation shapes formal English: form nouns from verbs and adjectives, link ideas, preserve meaning and avoid dense, impersonal prose.","Nominalisation presents an action, process or quality as a noun: **decide → decision**, **accurate → accuracy**. In formal writing, it helps writers connect ideas and focus on concepts rather than people. Effective noun-based style preserves the original meaning without making the prose unnecessarily dense.\n\n## 1. What nominalisation changes\n\nCompare two ways of presenting the same event:\n\n:::example\nThe committee **rejected** the proposal. This surprised investors.\n\nThe committee’s **rejection of the proposal** surprised investors.\n:::\n\nThe verb-based version first reports an event. The noun-based version treats that event as something already identified and makes it the subject of a further statement.\n\nNominalisation is useful when you want to:\n\n- name a process or quality precisely;\n- refer back to an earlier statement;\n- compare or evaluate ideas;\n- focus on an event when the person responsible is unknown or irrelevant.\n\nIt is common in academic, technical and administrative writing, but it is not automatically more appropriate than a verb-based sentence.\n\n## 2. Forming the noun\n\nEnglish has several common patterns, but there is no single ending that works with every verb or adjective.\n\n| Source | Nominalisation | Example in context |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| investigate | investigation | an **investigation into** the incident |\n| develop | development | the **development of** a new vaccine |\n| refuse | refusal | their **refusal to cooperate** |\n| accurate | accuracy | the **accuracy of** the measurements |\n| stable | stability | economic **stability** |\n| aware | awareness | public **awareness of** the risks |\n| increase | increase | an **increase in** demand |\n\nSome nouns have the same written form as the verb; others involve changes that must be learned individually. The noun’s following structure also matters: **refuse to cooperate → refusal to cooperate**, not *refusal of cooperate*.\n\nAn **-ing** clause can also occupy a position commonly occupied by a noun phrase:\n\n- **Collecting reliable data** takes time.\n- **The collection of reliable data** takes time.\n\nIn the first sentence, **collecting** retains verb grammar and takes the direct object **reliable data**. In the second, **collection** is a noun, with **the** and an **of** phrase. Both are natural; the second is more explicitly noun-based.\n\n:::tip\nLearn a nominalisation together with its usual pattern: **access to**, **participation in**, **a decision to do something**. Do not assume that the noun keeps the verb’s structure.\n:::\n\n## 3. Rebuilding the sentence accurately\n\nNominalisation involves more than replacing a verb with a noun. Participants and descriptive words often need new forms.\n\n:::example\nThe council **approved the plan quickly**.\n\nThe council’s **quick approval of the plan** allowed work to begin.\n\nThe **quick approval of the plan by the council** allowed work to begin.\n:::\n\nHere, the changes are:\n\n| Verb-based sentence | Noun-based expression |\n| --- | --- |\n| the council: the actor | **the council’s** or **by the council** |\n| the plan: what was approved | **of the plan** |\n| quickly: an adverb | **quick**: an adjective |\n\nNot every nominalisation follows this exact pattern. Choose the structure required by the noun and make the relationships clear.\n\n:::warning\nA noun phrase can leave a participant’s role unclear. **The criticism of the director** may mean criticism directed at the director or, in context, criticism expressed by the director. Use **criticism directed at the director** or **criticism expressed by the director** when the distinction matters.\n:::\n\n## 4. Connecting and developing ideas\n\nA nominalisation can package information from one sentence as the starting point of the next. This helps the reader follow an argument.\n\n:::example\nThe two laboratories **collaborated** on the trial. **This collaboration** reduced costs and improved consistency.\n\nThe results were **inconsistent** across the three trials. **This inconsistency** limits the strength of the conclusion.\n:::\n\nThe second sentence does not simply repeat the first: it evaluates the event or quality already introduced.\n\nNoun-based structures also make parallel comparisons possible:\n\n**The expansion of the service** increased access, whereas **the reduction in staffing** caused longer waiting times.\n\nThe parallel noun phrases make the contrast prominent. Use this technique when the comparison is important, not merely to make a sentence sound formal.\n\n## 5. Preserving time, certainty and responsibility\n\nUnlike a finite verb, a nominalisation does not itself mark tense or express possibility. These meanings may need to appear elsewhere.\n\n:::example\nThe company **may close** the factory next year.\n\nThe **possible closure of the factory next year** has worried employees.\n:::\n\nWriting only **the closure of the factory** could suggest that the closure is established or expected. **Possible** preserves the uncertainty.\n\nSimilarly, **the minister’s rejection of the proposal last week** retains information about who acted and when. **The rejection of the proposal** omits both details unless the surrounding text supplies them.\n\n:::note\nOmitting the actor can be useful when the process is the real focus: **Evaporation causes cooling.** However, it can also obscure responsibility: **The destruction of the records was unfortunate.** If responsibility matters, identify who destroyed them.\n:::\n\n## 6. Choosing clarity over unnecessary nouns\n\nSome noun-and-verb combinations are established and natural: **make a decision**, **conduct an investigation**, **reach an agreement**. They are not errors. However, a direct verb is often shorter.\n\n| Noun-based version | More direct version |\n| --- | --- |\n| We conducted an analysis of the samples. | We analysed the samples. |\n| The team made a decision to postpone the launch. | The team decided to postpone the launch. |\n| There was an improvement in response times. | Response times improved. |\n\nThe best choice depends on emphasis. **We conducted a detailed analysis** gives useful prominence to the type of analysis. **We analysed the samples** efficiently reports what happened.\n\nLong chains can be harder to process:\n\n**The implementation of the revision of the assessment procedure caused delays.**\n\nA clearer version is:\n\n**Implementing the revised assessment procedure caused delays.**\n\n## 7. A practical editing checklist\n\nBefore keeping a nominalisation, ask:\n\n1. Does the noun help name, connect, compare or evaluate an idea?\n2. Are the actor and other participants clear where they matter?\n3. Have I preserved time, uncertainty and the original meaning?\n4. Have I used the noun’s correct following structure?\n5. Would a direct verb make the sentence easier to read without losing useful emphasis?\n\nUse **nouns to organise concepts** and **verbs to express actions clearly**. Strong formal writing combines both.","en","C1",97.04,[13],{"id":14,"name":15,"level":10,"language":9,"isCompleted":16,"completionPercentage":17,"totalExercises":18,"completedExercises":17},"01a0e1ab-d504-739c-a9ba-cdb44465500f","Complex noun phrases and nominalisation",false,0,4,"2026-09-27T07:02:10+00:00","2026-10-14T10:40:29+00:00",[],{"name":15,"slug":23,"language":9},"complex-noun-phrases-and-nominalisation-c1",[],[26,37],{"@id":27,"@type":28,"id":29,"grammarPage":30,"title":31,"instructions":32,"displayOrder":17,"type":33,"questionCount":34,"blankCount":35,"isCompleted":16,"ogImageUrl":36},"\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_exercises\u002F01a0e1ab-dbec-7249-a148-55c49acdfe5b","GrammarExercise","01a0e1ab-dbec-7249-a148-55c49acdfe5b","\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_pages\u002F01a0e1ab-d5e5-73b5-b5bc-53d16d704466","Nominalisation and Noun-Based Style — Forms in Context","Choose the option that completes each sentence. Where an editing goal is given, preserve the original meaning and follow that goal.","word_select",15,21,"\u002Fuploads\u002Fimages\u002Fgpimg_8c876a72-9a12-4345-ad7c-4340baa57758_hero.webp?v=1790492531",{"@id":38,"@type":28,"id":39,"grammarPage":30,"title":40,"instructions":41,"displayOrder":42,"type":43,"questionCount":44,"blankCount":44,"isCompleted":16,"ogImageUrl":45},"\u002Fapi\u002Fgrammar_exercises\u002F01a0e1ab-dc0a-7cfd-bf72-974fd4994780","01a0e1ab-dc0a-7cfd-bf72-974fd4994780","Nominalisation and Noun-Based Style — Build the Sentences","Arrange the word tiles to build a complete sentence. Leave out the extra word.",1,"sentence_builder",12,"\u002Fuploads\u002Fimages\u002Fgpimg_119a8f36-f9c2-4f12-a92a-e282c2f71909_hero.webp?v=1790492531",null]