Wydick, Ch. 3-4 Nominalizations and Passive Voice

What is a nominalization? A nominalization is a base verb that has been turned into a noun. Examples: –He had knowledge of -> He knew –He had ownership of the company -> He owned the company. –There was correspondence between myself and my employer -> I corresponded with my employer

Why eliminate them? They make your sentences wordier They make your writing more abstract –Compare: The commencement of our discussions with the MacroTec people must not carry the appearance of desperation. -- With: We must not appear desperate when we begin talking to the MacroTec people.

How to spot a nominalization They often end with one of the following: ion (e.g., violation) ment (e.g., requirement) al (e.g., refusal) ance (e.g., maintenance) edge (e.g., knowledge)

Exercise – rewrite this sentence to eliminate the nominalizations The sellers made a decision to accept the buyer’s offer, so they issued an authorization to their broker to make an announcement of their decision. The sellers decided to accept the buyer’s offer, so they authorized their broker to announce their decision.

Exercise – rewrite this sentence to eliminate the nominalizations An agent who comes into possession of property of the principal has a legal obligation to put the said property into use on behalf of the principal only, unless, of course, the principal gives consent to some other use. An agent who acquires the principal’s property must use the property on behalf of the principal only, unless, of course, the principal consents to some other use.

What is the passive voice? A sentence is in the active voice when the thing doing the acting is the subject of the sentence. -Example: Thompson signed the contract. A sentence is in the passive voice when the thing doing the acting is not the subject of the sentence. -Example: The contract was signed by Thompson.

Why eliminate the passive voice? It tends to make your sentences wordy. It tends to bury the action and make the sentence seem less forceful. It can make the sentence ambiguous by hiding the actor.

Sometimes you can use the passive voice When the identity of the actor is unimportant -The defendant was acquitted. When you want to deemphasize the actor -Mistakes were made.

Exercise – eliminate the passive voice in this sentence where necessary It was insisted by Johnson that he had been fired merely for being disliked by the other employees. Johnson insisted that he was fired merely because the other employees disliked him. Or Johnson insisted that his employer fired him merely because the other employees disliked him.