Nominalisation in English












1. What is nominalisation?

Nominalisation is the process of turning verbs, adjectives, or even clauses into nouns (or noun phrases).
It comes from the word “nominal” (related to nouns).
In simple terms: it changes an action, quality, or process into a “thing”.

  • Verb → Noun


    • decide       → decision

    • explore → exploration

  • Adjective → Noun

    • happy → happiness

    • strong → strength

2. Why do we use nominalisation?

Nominalisation is very common in academic writing, legal texts, business reports, and formal communication because it:

  1. Makes writing more formal and objective

    • Instead of We analysed the problem, we might say An analysis of the problem was carried out.

  2. Creates abstraction

    • It moves from concrete actions (She explained the rules) to abstract ideas (Her explanation of the rules).

  3. Allows more compact expression of ideas

    • The team improved the process and increased efficiency
      → The improvement of the process led to an increase in efficiency.

3. How it changes sentence structure

Nominalisation often changes:

  • Active voice → Passive or impersonal tone

  • Dynamic verbs → Static nouns

Example:

  • Dynamic (active): The committee will decide tomorrow.

  • Static (formal): A decision will be made tomorrow by the committee.

4. Common patterns of nominalisation

  • Verb + suffix

    • inform → information

    • create → creation

    • achieve → achievement

  • Adjective + suffix

    • dark → darkness

    • happy → happiness

    • strong → strength

  • Phrase → Noun phrase

    • People are protesting → The protests

5. Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

  • Adds formality

  • Helps with concise summarisation

  • Emphasises results rather than actions

Disadvantages:

  • Can make writing heavy and hard to read if overused

  • Removes the “human” subject, making it less engaging

6. Quick examples

Verb/Adj. Nominalisation Sentence with Verb/Adj. Sentence with Nominalisation
decide decision We must decide soon. A decision must be made soon.
improve improvement They improved the system. There was an improvement in the system.
happy happiness She is happy. Her happiness is important.
strong strength He is strong. His strength impressed us.

If you want, I can make you a full table of 100+ common nominalisations in English with example sentences so you can master this skill for formal writing.
Do you want me to prepare that?Alright — let’s go deep into nominalisation in English.

1. What is nominalisation?

Nominalisation is the process of turning verbs, adjectives, or even clauses into nouns (or noun phrases).
It comes from the word “nominal” (related to nouns).
In simple terms: it changes an action, quality, or process into a “thing”.

  • Verb → Noun

    • decide → decision

    • explore → exploration

  • Adjective → Noun

    • happy → happiness

    • strong → strength

2. Why do we use nominalisation?

Nominalisation is very common in academic writing, legal texts, business reports, and formal communication because it:

  1. Makes writing more formal and objective

    • Instead of We analysed the problem, we might say An analysis of the problem was carried out.

  2. Creates abstraction

    • It moves from concrete actions (She explained the rules) to abstract ideas (Her explanation of the rules).

  3. Allows more compact expression of ideas

    • The team improved the process and increased efficiency
      → The improvement of the process led to an increase in efficiency.

3. How it changes sentence structure

Nominalisation often changes:

  • Active voice → Passive or impersonal tone

  • Dynamic verbs → Static nouns

Example:

  • Dynamic (active): The committee will decide tomorrow.

  • Static (formal): A decision will be made tomorrow by the committee.

4. Common patterns of nominalisation

  • Verb + suffix

    • inform → information

    • create → creation

    • achieve → achievement

  • Adjective + suffix

    • dark → darkness

    • happy → happiness

    • strong → strength

  • Phrase → Noun phrase

    • People are protesting → The protests

5. Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages:

  • Adds formality

  • Helps with concise summarisation

  • Emphasises results rather than actions

Disadvantages:

  • Can make writing heavy and hard to read if overused

  • Removes the “human” subject, making it less engaging

6. Quick examples

Verb/Adj. Nominalisation Sentence with Verb/Adj. Sentence with Nominalisation
decide decision We must decide soon. A decision must be made soon.
improve improvement They improved the system. There was an improvement in the system.
happy happiness She is happy. Her happiness is important.
strong strength He is strong. His strength impressed us.

If you want, I can make you a full table of 100+ common nominalisations in English with example sentences so you can master this skill for formal writing.
Do you want me to prepare 

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