Representing actions with nouns

Forms of nominalisation

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Verb 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 athletes angrily rejected an offer to extend the time limit.
(Microconcord Corpus A)

... their angry rejection of the offer ...

The use of the verb form in the first example focuses on the action of rejecting. The nominalised form in the second version represents the action as a completed event - the act of rejecting is now seen as a "thing".

The typical ordering of elements in the clause has implications for what happens in the process of nominalisation; in this case, turning a verb into a noun . Here is a summary of the typical changes which take place:

	The verb becomes the head noun, eg rejected - their rejection.
	Any adverbs related to the verb become adjectives describing the head noun, eg angrily rejected - their angry rejection.
	The former verb loses its verb markings such as tense , eg rejected, aspect , modality and subject-verb agreement.
	Meanwhile, the noun acquires noun characteristics such as determiners and modifiers , countability and plural marking, eg rejection.
	The noun commonly becomes possessive, eg their angry rejection / the athlete's angry rejection.

When transitive verbs are turned into nominalisations, the speaker has a range of options as to how the information in the new noun group will be organised. Consider the statement: "The board suppressed the proposed scheme" and note how, in the nominalised version, the two participants have been put into the possessive:

Many teachers were angered and disappointed at the board's suppression of the proposed scheme. (Microconcord Corpus B)

Note that the subject of the original statement can also be expressed as a passive-like agent , preceded by the preposition by (and with the option of omitting the by-phrase):

Many teachers were angered and disappointed at the suppression of the proposed scheme (by the board).

Many teachers were angered and disappointed at the proposed scheme's suppression (by the board).

When intransitive verbs are nominalised, two options are possible. Consider the statement: "The market grew" and note how the nominalised version allows two possessive forms:

The market was getting too fast in its growth. (Bank of English)

The growth of the market ...

However, subject pronouns only permit one possessive form:

The market was getting too fast in its growth.

The growth of it ...

Note that verb-to-noun nominalisations can be both countable and uncountable .

For further information about the reasons people have for using nominalisations, see
Representing actions with nouns: Reasons for representing actions with nouns.