About Nominalisation

Nominalisation

What is it?

Understanding the concept of nominalisation and a process of making /producing a noun, from a verb or an adjective, or an adverb, is interesting. Referring a definition, on its webpage, the About Education states that 'Nominalisation is a type of word formation in which a verb is used as, or transformed into a noun.'
In other words, nominalisation refers to a writing technique or the writing tool of using noun phrases instead of verb phrases. This technique requires the writers to change verbs (actions) into nouns (things or concepts) in their writing. 

Why does nominalisation matter?

According to Murray (2013), nominalisation is an important tool for building taxonomies of technical terms; therefore, nominalisations are important resources in building knowledge. Implementing nominalisation prevents you from repeating the same verb or word in writing that makes the content being more attractive for readers. This preference technique is required in academic writing such as formal essays and/or written business communication. Importantly, nominalisations help construct technical knowledge, and place objects and events into different relations with one another from those of our everyday experiences of the world (Murray, 2013).

Nominalisation is one of the language choices that enables movement towards highly written texts (The Government of South Australia, 2013). Implementing nominalisation develops thinking skills and helps achieve a higher degree of abstraction and technicality; nominalisation also is an important resource for successful development of factual genres.

How are nominalisations formed?

Part 1- Nominalisations are often formed from Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs

a)      Verbs:

             -Many verbs can be changed into nominalisations by changing the end of the verb

                                 permit      --        permission

                                 divide      --        division

             -Some do not need change

                                 diet         --          [my] diet

                             struggle      --           the struggle

b)      Adjective:

                                pretty       --          beauty

c)      Adverb

                                quietly     --           silence

Part 2-Instructions: 

Forming nominalisation: in a text, a procedure of steps is as below.           Step1: Identify the verbs           Step2: Nominalise the verbs are identified above           Step3: Try to rewrite the text using all nominalisations

For example, in giving an original text of “Students who complete what the school requires can graduate. When they receive their certificate, they can apply for work.",  a procedure of the above steps, to change verbs into nominalisations, is as follows.

Step 1: Identify the verbs in the original text

Students who complete what the school requires can graduate. When they receive their certificate, they can apply for work.

Step 2 Nominalise these verbs

•         Complete     --      Completion

•         Require        --      Requirement

•         Graduate      --      Graduation

•         Receive        --      Receipt

•         Apply           --      Application

Step 3:Try to rewrite the text using all nominalisations

With the nominalisations finding in Step 2, a new text will be rewritten as below.
Completion of the school’s requirements can lead to graduation. Upon receipt of their certificate, students can make an application for work.

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Sources: Adapted from
-Chirstine Murray: Developing subject literacy. UTS handout week5-Spring 2013
-The Government of South Australia-Department of Education and Children’s Services (2013). Literacy Secretariat. Literacy is everyone’s business 

Useful links: 1  2  3  4  5  6   7

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