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KS3 · Grammar

Y9.3 Nominalisation

Calculators not allowed · about 50 minutes

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Riverwood Community News: The Litter-Picking Scheme

Source written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free). Written specifically for this grammar worksheet pack; not derived from or based on any published work, past paper or copyrighted text.

Last month, the parish council announced the introduction of a new litter-picking scheme along the riverside path. The decision followed a series of complaints from local residents about the increasing amount of rubbish left near the water's edge.

Volunteers have reported a noticeable reduction in litter since the scheme began. According to the council's own investigation, over four hundred bags of rubbish have been collected in just six weeks. The organisation of weekly clean-up sessions has also encouraged greater involvement from local schools, and the arrival of new recycling bins along the path has been welcomed by residents.

Despite this early success, some concerns remain. A recent survey revealed continued frustration among dog walkers about the lack of waste bins near the northern entrance. The council has promised the installation of additional bins before the end of the month, alongside a wider expansion of the scheme into neighbouring villages.

Overall, the improvement in the river path's appearance has been widely praised, and the council's commitment to environmental responsibility appears genuine.

Look at these nominalised nouns taken from the source text 'Riverwood Community News'. For each one, identify the verb it was formed from.

(a)introduction(1)

(b)reduction(1)

(c)investigation(1)

(d)involvement(1)

(e)expansion(1)

Which of these words is a nominalisation formed from the adjective 'responsible'?

A) responsibility
B) responsibly
C) responsible
D) responsibleness

In the sentence 'The council's commitment to environmental responsibility appears genuine', which word is a nominalisation of the verb 'commit'?

A) council's
B) commitment
C) environmental
D) genuine

Which of these sentences uses a nominalisation as its grammatical subject?

A) The team decided quickly.
B) The team's decision was quick.
C) The team decides quickly.
D) Deciding quickly, the team acted.

Define what is meant by 'nominalisation', using ONE example from the source text to support your answer.

(2)

Word bank:

decision	movement	curiosity	removal
discussion	agreement	happiness	disposal

Each noun above was formed by nominalisation. For each one, write the correct suffix family: -tion/-sion, -ment, -ity/-ness, or -al.

(a)decision(1)

(b)movement(1)

(c)curiosity(1)

(d)removal(1)

(e)discussion(1)

(f)agreement(1)

(g)happiness(1)

(h)disposal(1)

Word bank of verbs:

decide	refuse	discover	arrive
employ	fail	react	agree

Change each verb above into its nominalised noun form.

(a)decide(1)

(b)refuse(1)

(c)discover(1)

(d)arrive(1)

(e)employ(1)

(f)fail(1)

(g)react(1)

(h)agree(1)

Change each adjective below into its nominalised abstract noun form.

(a)informal(1)

(b)popular(1)

(c)anxious(1)

(d)wide(1)

(e)strong(1)

(f)difficult(1)

Which nominalisation correctly completes this sentence? 'The manager announced the ___ of the new policy.'

A) implement
B) implementation
C) implementing
D) implemented

Compare these two versions of the same idea:

'The council introduced a new litter-picking scheme.'
'The introduction of a new litter-picking scheme took place last month.'

Explain why a formal report, such as the source text, might prefer the second, nominalised version.

(2)

Rewrite this sentence using a nominalisation to make it sound more formal, suitable for a report: 'They will collect the rubbish every Friday.'

(2)

Rewrite this sentence using a nominalisation to make it sound more formal, suitable for a report: 'The volunteers organised the event well.'

(2)

Combine these two simple sentences into ONE more formal sentence, using a nominalisation: 'The scientists observed the reaction. They recorded their findings carefully.'

(3)

Combine these two simple sentences into ONE more formal sentence, using a nominalisation: 'The government will reduce spending. This may affect services.'

(2)

Explain one reason a writer might choose NOT to overuse nominalisation in a piece of writing.

(2)

Identify and correct the error in this sentence: 'The committee's decision of postpone the meeting surprised everyone.'

(2)

Identify and correct the error in this sentence: 'The information that residents provided were extremely useful.'

(2)

Which sentence uses the nominalised noun 'announcement' correctly?

A) The council make an announcement about the new bins.
B) The council made an announcement about the new bins.
C) The council announcement made about the new bins.
D) The council has make an announcement about the new bins.

Below is a paragraph with several capital letter and subject-verb agreement errors. Rewrite it correctly, correcting every error you can find.

'the reaction from residents have been extremely positive. an investigation into littering are still ongoing and the head of the scheme hope the results will lead to a further reduction in rubbish along the path.'

(6)

Write a short formal report paragraph (approximately 80-100 words) about a new initiative at your school, such as a new library, sports facility or environmental scheme. Your writing must include at least FOUR nominalised nouns formed from verbs or adjectives. Underline each nominalisation you use.

(10)

Mark scheme · Y9.3 Nominalisation

Question 1

(a) B1 introduce
(a) Answer: introduce
(b) B1 reduce
(b) Answer: reduce
(c) B1 investigate
(c) Answer: investigate
(d) B1 involve
(d) Answer: involve
(e) B1 expand
(e) Answer: expand

Question 2

B1 A) responsibility
Answer: A

Question 3

B1 B) commitment
Answer: B

Question 4

B1 B) The team's decision was quick.
Answer: B

Question 5

B1 gives an accurate definition, e.g. nominalisation is the process of turning a verb or adjective into a noun, often by adding a suffix such as -tion, -sion, -ment, -ity or -ness
B1 supports the definition with a valid example from the source text and correctly names its base word, e.g. 'reduction' formed from the verb 'reduce'
Answer: Nominalisation is the process of turning a verb or adjective into a noun, usually by adding a suffix such as -tion, -sion, -ment, -ity or -ness. For example, in the source text 'reduction' is a nominalisation of the verb 'reduce'.

Question 6

(a) B1 -tion/-sion, cao
(a) Answer: -tion/-sion
(b) B1 -ment, cao
(b) Answer: -ment
(c) B1 -ity/-ness, cao
(c) Answer: -ity/-ness
(d) B1 -al, cao
(d) Answer: -al
(e) B1 -tion/-sion, cao
(e) Answer: -tion/-sion
(f) B1 -ment, cao
(f) Answer: -ment
(g) B1 -ity/-ness, cao
(g) Answer: -ity/-ness
(h) B1 -al, cao
(h) Answer: -al

Question 7

(a) B1 decision, cao
(a) Answer: decision
(b) B1 refusal, cao
(b) Answer: refusal
(c) B1 discovery, cao
(c) Answer: discovery
(d) B1 arrival, cao
(d) Answer: arrival
(e) B1 employment, cao
(e) Answer: employment
(f) B1 failure, cao
(f) Answer: failure
(g) B1 reaction, cao
(g) Answer: reaction
(h) B1 agreement, cao
(h) Answer: agreement

Question 8

(a) B1 informality, cao
(a) Answer: informality
(b) B1 popularity, cao
(b) Answer: popularity
(c) B1 anxiety, cao
(c) Answer: anxiety
(d) B1 width, cao
(d) Answer: width
(e) B1 strength, cao
(e) Answer: strength
(f) B1 difficulty, cao
(f) Answer: difficulty

Question 9

B1 B) implementation
Answer: B

Question 10

B1 identifies that nominalisation removes or de-emphasises the person/agent responsible for the action, creating a more objective, impersonal tone
B1 develops this with reference to formal/report register, e.g. it sounds more authoritative and focuses the reader's attention on the process or outcome rather than on who did it (oe)
Answer: The nominalised version turns the action into a noun ('the introduction'), which removes the emphasis on who did it and creates a more objective, impersonal tone that suits formal reports; it focuses the reader on the process and its outcome rather than on the council as the agent.

Question 11

B1 the verb 'collect' is correctly nominalised as 'collection'
B1 resulting sentence is grammatically complete and correctly formed, cao
Answer: The collection of the rubbish will take place every Friday.

Question 12

B1 the verb 'organised' is correctly nominalised as 'organisation'
B1 resulting sentence is grammatically complete and correctly formed, cao
Answer: The organisation of the event by the volunteers was excellent.

Question 13

B1 the verb 'observed' is correctly nominalised as 'observation'
B1 the two ideas are combined into a single, grammatically correct sentence
B1 a consistently formal register is maintained throughout, cao
Answer: The scientists' observation of the reaction was recorded carefully.

Question 14

B1 the verb 'reduce' is correctly nominalised as 'reduction'
B1 resulting sentence is grammatically complete and correctly formed, cao
Answer: The government's reduction in spending may affect services.

Question 15

B1 identifies a valid reason, e.g. too much nominalisation can make writing feel dense, abstract or impersonal, or can hide who is responsible for an action when the reader needs to know
B1 develops the reason with reference to effect on the reader, e.g. a reader may find it harder to follow the meaning quickly, or the writing may lose the warmth or directness needed in personal or narrative writing (oe)
Answer: Overusing nominalisation can make writing feel dense and abstract, since strings of noun phrases (such as 'the implementation of the introduction of the reduction') can be harder for a reader to follow quickly; it can also hide who is responsible for an action, which may not suit personal or narrative writing that needs a direct, engaging voice.

Question 16

B1 identifies that the nominalised noun 'decision' must be followed by 'to' plus the infinitive, not 'of' plus the base verb
B1 correct rewrite: The committee's decision to postpone the meeting surprised everyone, cao
Answer: The committee's decision to postpone the meeting surprised everyone.

Question 17

B1 identifies that 'information' is a singular, uncountable nominalised noun, so the verb must be 'was', not 'were'
B1 correct rewrite: The information that residents provided was extremely useful, cao
Answer: The information that residents provided was extremely useful.

Question 18

B1 B) The council made an announcement about the new bins.
Answer: B

Question 19

Level 0 (0): No accurate corrections made; errors remain uncorrected or new errors introduced.
Level 1 (1-2): One or two errors corrected (e.g. one capital letter or one agreement error), with limited overall accuracy.
Level 2 (3-4): Most errors corrected, including at least one agreement error involving a nominalised noun, with an attempt to capitalise sentence openings.
Level 3 (5-6): All errors corrected accurately, demonstrating secure control of subject-verb agreement with singular nominalised nouns and capital letters throughout.
Indicative content:
- Capital letter added for 'The' at the start of the first sentence
- 'reaction ... have' corrected to 'has' (the nominalised noun 'reaction' is singular)
- Capital letter added for 'An' at the start of the second sentence
- 'investigation ... are' corrected to 'is' (the nominalised noun 'investigation' is singular)
- 'head ... hope' corrected to 'hopes' (the subject 'the head' is singular)
- Overall rewrite is fluent, accurate Standard English with correct sentence demarcation throughout

Question 20

AO5: Content and organisation (AO5)
- Level 1 (1-2): Simple description of the initiative; little sense of a formal report register or organisation.
- Level 2 (3-4): Some relevant, clear description of the initiative; an attempt at a consistent formal register; ideas are mostly sequenced clearly.
- Level 3 (5-6): Clear, convincing description of the initiative in a consistent, well-judged formal report register; well organised, with a genuine sense of purpose.
AO6: Technical accuracy (nominalisation and formal register) (AO6)
- Level 1 (1): Fewer than four nominalised nouns are present, or they are used inaccurately, undermining the formal register.
- Level 2 (2-3): At least four nominalised nouns are present and mostly accurate, with occasional errors in form or agreement.
- Level 3 (4): At least four nominalised nouns are present, clearly marked and used accurately, sustaining a consistently formal, objective register throughout.

Nominalisation - Worksheets, Questions and Revision