Representing actions with nouns
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Forms of nominalisation | page 3 of 8 |
Three different types of nominalisation
There are three different types of nominalisation 
:
 |
verb to noun |
|
adjective to noun |
|
clause to noun |
One of the simplest types of nominalisation occurs when a writer or speaker takes an
action or event which is usually represented by a verb and expresses it as a noun 
:
The General accused one official of kicking a navy lieutenant, and another official of breaking into an airforce plane. (Bank of English)
... the General's accusations against two officials ...
Another simple type of nominalisation occurs when a writer or speaker takes a quality or feature usually represented by an adjective and expresses it as a noun:
The walls of the valley are so high that radios have a limited range.
(SCMP 19/3/94)
... the height of the valley walls ...
A more complex type of nominalisation occurs when a writer or speaker uses a noun to summarise or refer back to a previous stretch of writing or speech:
A: What do the parents do to ensure the survival of their young during dependency? B: That's a very good question.
For further information about the reasons people have for using nominalisations, see
Representing actions with nouns: Reasons for representing actions with
nouns.
Three different types of nominalisation
