Nominalisation
Nominalisation is the process of turning a verb or adjective into a noun or noun phrase, for example changing 'the government decided' into 'the government's decision' or 'she was angry' into 'her anger'. Writers use nominalisation to create a more formal, abstract or academic tone, which is especially useful in essays, reports and analytical writing at KS3 and beyond.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Find a verb or adjective in your sentence that you want to make sound more formal or abstract.
- Convert it into its noun form, for example 'decide' becomes 'decision', 'angry' becomes 'anger', 'destroy' becomes 'destruction'.
- Rebuild the sentence around the new noun, often adding a supporting verb such as 'was', 'made' or 'led to'.
- Check the new sentence still expresses the same meaning, just in a more formal, condensed style.
- Use nominalisation selectively, since overusing it can make writing sound dense or hard to follow.
Worked example
Rewrite this sentence using nominalisation to sound more formal: 'The company polluted the river, which damaged the local wildlife.'
- Identify the verbs to convert: 'polluted' and 'damaged'.
- Turn 'polluted' into the noun 'pollution' and 'damaged' into the noun 'damage'.
- Rebuild the sentence around these nouns: 'The company's pollution of the river caused damage to the local wildlife.'
- Check the meaning is preserved but the tone is now more formal and abstract.
- Final answer: 'The company's pollution of the river caused damage to the local wildlife.' - both key verbs have been nominalised for a more formal register.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a English exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Rewrite the sentence 'The scientists analysed the data carefully' using nominalisation, and identify which word you changed.
Explain how nominalisation changes the tone of 'The team failed the project' when rewritten as 'The failure of the project by the team.'
A student's essay contains the sentence: 'The council decided to reduce the budget, which affected local services.' Rewrite this sentence using nominalisation twice, and explain the effect of your changes.
Free printable worksheet
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