1. NOMINALISATION MADE EASIER How to write in a more academic fashion.

2. NOMINALISATION IS: Writing in a more academic manner. Writing in a lexically dense manner. The major difference between spoken and written language. Getting better grades because you can do this.

3. NOMINALISATION Nominalisation makes writing appear more ‘written like’ than ‘spoken like’. This is desirable for formal writing in all subjects. Some people find it useful to note that nominalised words often end in: -ion, -ment, -ance.

4. NOMINALISATION When verbs are nominalised, the writer generally switches writing modes from active to passive voice. The appropriateness of active and passive voice depends on the requirement of the task. Active voice is generally ‘more spoken like’, while passive voice is generally ‘more written like’.

5. NOMINALISATION Active voice is where the focus of the writing is on a subject (person/animal/item or ‘actor’) doing the actions (verbs). Active voice often includes statements using I, we, he, she, it, our … Examples: The engineer completed the plans for the bridge. Jane felt that the use of an antidote was contrary to medical evidence.

6. NOMINALISATION Passive voice is where the focus is on an action (or actions) rather than the subject (actor). Passive voice gives the writing a sense of being written from a neutral or objective perspective. Examples:  The bridge plans were completed by the engineer.  The use of an antidote was contrary to medical evidence according to Jane.

7. NOMINALISATION Is a process that turns a word or a number of words into nouns. It is usually verbs and adjectives that are changed (but can also be conjunctions, prepositions and modal finites). Notice how the word ‘the’ is used at the beginning of a sentence which is written in the passive voice.

8. EXAMPLES Verb – NounsAdjectives – Nouns completed – completionconsistent – consistency irrigate – irrigationdifficult – difficulty impacting – impactimpure – impurities present – presentationavailable – availability emerge – emergence growing – growth analyse – analyst worry – concern improve – improvement

9. ACTIVITY Nominalise the following verbs/adjectives: rely destroy expand survive paid fulfil simple old introduce

10. ACTIVITY ANSWERS Nominalise the following verbs/adjectives: relyreliance destroydestruction expandexpansion survivesurvival paidpayment fulfilfulfilment simplesimplicity oldolder introduceintroduction

11. NOMINALISATION So, if you put the word ‘the’ in front of a word (i.e. an adjective or verb) it prompts you to nominalise! Example: ‘introduce’ becomes ‘the introduction’

12. NOMINALISATION The nominalisation of whole parts of sentences, rather than just a word, is what has the major impact on formalizing academic writing. Example: Scientists have been developing new chemicals … (active voice) Becomes: The development of new chemicals by scientists … (passive voice) Try placing the topic at the beginning of a sentence. It helps sort out the syntax (i.e. structure or order) of the sentence.

13. ACTIVITY How could the following sentences be made more formal by the use of nominalisation? 1.For example, if I was about to compete in a hundred metre race and I ate a bucket of chips it would affect my ability to run well. 2.It is a real problem that players have to worry too much about their sponsorship deals instead of just concentrating on playing the game.

14. ACTIVITY - SUGGESTED ANSWERS 1.For example, if I was about to compete in a hundred metre race and I ate a bucket of chips it would affect my ability to run well. The effect on an athletes’ performance in a competition is significant if a bucket of chips is consumed prior to the race. 2.It is a real problem that players have to worry too much about their sponsorship deals instead of just concentrating on playing the game. The concern regarding sponsorship deals has a significant effect on a player’s game.