NominalisationTASKS
Grammar–GrammaticalAccuracy
Changeverbsintonouns,andmakeyouracademicwritingand
speakingnounrich.
Introduction-FormalwrittenEnglishusesnounsmorethanverbs.Forexample,
"judgement"ratherthan"judge","development"ratherthan"develop","admiration"
ratherthan"admire".Changingaverborotherwordintoanouniscallednominalisation.
Theprocessofnominalisationturnsverbs(actionsorevents)intonouns(things,concepts
orpeople).Bynominalising,thetextnolongerdescribesactionsbutfocusesonobjectsor
concepts.Forexample:Wewalkedforcharity.WeraisedmoneyfortheLeukaemia
Foundation./ThecharitywalkraisedmoneyfortheLeukaemiaFoundation.
Themeaningisthesame.Inwhatwaydoesthesecondsoundmore‘academic’?
Task1:Makingnounphrasesfromverbs
i.)Changeallthefollowingverbsintonouns–makesureyouknowtheirmeaning.
ii.)Whenchangedintoanoun–whatprepositionusuallyfollows?Addanothernounthat
commonlycollocateswiththeword.
iii.)Writeashortsentencetoillustrateitsmeaning.
Forexample:totransform=transformation(n)=transformationin+attitudes/
behaviour
Sentence:Thetransformationinattitudestocohabitationhasbeenremarkable.
a)tocompete
b)torestrict
c)torespond d)todevelop
e)toreduce f)tomaintain g)todepend h)tocomply i)toretain j)topredict k)toperceive
l)toemploy m)tooppose n)toadhere o)tointroduce
p)tobeconcerned q)topermit r)todisagree
s)tointend t)tosolve u)tosucceed
v)toinvolve NOMINALISATION
Nextwelookathowtoturnthethoughtsinyourheadintoacademicwriting.Todothis,
wemovefromyourthought,changeitintothepassiveandthenusenominalisationto
produceanounphrasewhichisoftenmoreconcise,orjustsoundsmoreacademic!
Task2Fillinthefollowingtable:
Active
Passive
Nominalisation
e.g.I’minterestedinhow… productsareadapted
Theadaptationofproducts
companiesadapttheir
is…
products
Ithinkit’simportantto…
enforcethelawsonhuman
trafficking
Ithinkweshould…
developtheanimation
industryinthiscountry
Ithinkthefirstthingwe
needtodois…
reducethelevelofdrinkdrivinginthiscountry
Thefirstthingwedois…
switchoffthecomputer
Ithink…
theauthordiscussedthe
characterreallywell
Ithink…
mobilephoneshavereally
influencedthewaywelive
First,we…
evaporatetheliquidby
heatingit
Ithink…
thescandalerodespeople’s
trustinthegovernment
Thepassiveisoftenusedinacademicwriting,buttheaboveexerciseshowsthatitisnottheonly
wayofmakingyourwritingmoreformal.Nominalisationisalsoanimportantcharacteristicof
academicwriting,whichleadstogreaterformality.
WRITINGSENTENCES
Task3Thinkaboutsomeideasyouhaveaboutyouressaytopics–aimfor5different
points.Then:
v Writedownyourthoughtsintheformofthefirstcolumnabovee.g.Ithink/We
should/Thefirstthingweneedtodois…
v Nowswapthethoughtsyouhaveputdownonpaperwithyourpartner
v Thentrytoturnthosethoughtsintoamoreacademicsentence–use
nominalisationifpossible/appropriate
Example:
ASKTUTORWRITES:‘Ithinkwesendtoomanypeopletoprisonforminorcrimesinmy
country’
STUDENTWRITES:Toomanypeoplearesenttoprisonforminorcrimes=The
imprisonmentofpeoplecommittingminorcrimesseemsinappropriate//Thesendingof
minorcriminalstoprisonseemsunjustifiable
Task4FurtherworkonNounPhrases–CombiningNouns
Lookatthefollowingtypesofnouncombinations:
1)themovementoflabour/theliberalisationoftrade/theinventionofvaccines/therisein
population
2nounsornounphrasesconnectedbyapreposition
2)aday’slabour/ayear’sstruggle/alifetime’swork/ason’sduty/anartist’stalent
2nounsconnectedbyapostrophe(‘)+s
3)theunemploymentrate/migrantlabour/afactoryworker/healthandsafetylaws/
universityadministration
2nouns/nounphrasescombined(nopreposition)
Task5
i)Thinkaboutsomecommontermsinyoursubjectarea.Whichpatterndotheycome
under?
Arethereanyyouarenotsureof–checkwithyourASKTutor.
ii)Nowwritesomesentencesaboutyoursubjectusingthesenounphrases–trytoputthe
nounphraseatthestartofthesentence
Materialsused:
IntroductoryexplanationfromUniLearning.Retrieved29/4/14:
http://unilearning.uow.edu.au/academic/3b.html