C1 · Lesson 11 · 25 min
Nominalisation and formal style
In this lesson
- I can turn a process into a noun phrase while preserving its meaning.
- I can choose between a nominalised form and a clearer verb-based sentence.
Grammar in context
The council approved the extension after residents responded to the survey. The council’s approval followed a detailed analysis of those responses. The report records the decision, but its summary explains plainly why the council made it.
Which nouns name actions or processes? Where does the text still identify the people or organisation responsible?
Turn a process into something you can discuss
Nominalisation expresses an action, process or quality as a noun or noun phrase. Approve becomes approval; expand becomes expansion. This can help a report refer back to a complex event as a single topic: the approval of the new plan. A noun phrase may need an article, a possessive or a prepositional complement. Learn the complete pattern rather than replacing a verb with a related noun and leaving the rest of the sentence unchanged.
- The company expanded rapidly. Its rapid expansion created new jobs.
- We analysed the responses before publishing our analysis.
Preserve participants and strength
A nominalised phrase can make the person responsible less obvious. Use a possessive, an of-complement or a by-phrase when the participant matters: the team’s rejection of the proposal. Do not accidentally turn a possibility into a fact, or remove a negative that changes the meaning. A claim that costs may fall differs from a statement about an actual reduction. Check agency, time, modality and quantity as well as the noun form.
- The rejection of the appeal by the panel surprised the applicant.
- The possibility of a delay remains a concern.
Choose the clearest register
Nominalisation is useful in headings, reports and discussion of abstract relationships, but repeated noun phrases can make ordinary instructions heavy and unclear. We investigated is often more direct than we carried out an investigation. Neither pattern is automatically wrong. Choose according to audience and purpose, and keep important actors visible. When revising, read the whole sentence to ensure that its verb still agrees with the new head noun.
- Please confirm your booking by Friday.
- Confirmation of each booking is required before payment.
Common mistakes
Compare the incorrect and corrected forms.
Avoid
The approve of the plan took a week.
Use
The approval of the plan took a week.
This noun phrase needs approval, not the verb approve.
Avoid
The reduction in ticket prices were welcomed.
Use
The reduction in ticket prices was welcomed.
Reduction is the singular head of the new subject phrase.
Put it into practice
Try the exercises, write your own examples and check your understanding.