Definition / Explanation
Nominalisation turns actions, processes, or qualities into nouns, and this is a major feature of academic, legal, and policy writing. Dense noun phrases allow writers to package a large amount of information into a compact form, for example by combining modifiers before and after a noun. This can make a text sound more formal, abstract, and efficient. However, too much nominalisation can also make writing heavy and difficult to process. At C2, the skill is not only producing dense structures, but also knowing when to simplify them for clarity.
Key Rules
- Use nominalisation to make writing more abstract and formal: decide -> decision, reject -> rejection.
- Build dense noun phrases by adding modifiers carefully: rapid policy implementation, long-term budget planning process.
- Check whether the noun phrase is still readable; density should not create confusion.
- Nominalisation is useful in academic and professional writing, but often sounds unnatural in everyday speech.
- When clarity matters more than density, prefer a verb-based structure.
Examples
- The rejection of the proposal caused delays.
- Rapid policy implementation requires strong planning.
- The report discussed market expansion strategies.
- Their failure to respond increased public concern.
- We need a clearer data protection policy.
Common Mistakes
- ❌ The reject of the proposal caused delays. -> ✅ The rejection of the proposal caused delays.
- ❌ Rapidly policy implementation requires planning. -> ✅ Rapid policy implementation requires planning.
- ❌ Their fail to respond increased concern. -> ✅ Their failure to respond increased concern.
Tips
- A useful editing question is: Can I turn this noun back into a verb? If yes, compare both versions and keep the one that sounds clearer in context.