Representing actions with nouns
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Reasons for representing actions with nouns | page 3 of 9 |
Expressing ideas in an appropriately technical manner
Nominalisation is more commonly used in technical writing (compared with casual
conversation 
), especially scientific and bureaucratic domains, where
writers are concerned with categorising, labelling, and describing the phenomena
associated with their field. In order for writers to discuss these phenomena, it is often
necessary for them to treat processes as if they were things, through nominalisation:
Sewage treatment is something most of us never think about, yet it is a relatively straightforward process which contributes immeasurably to the comfort of modern urban life. Sewage treatment involves a simple process of screening the effluent, followed by a period of settlement and separation, after which the water is ready for purification and the remaining sludge for disposal.
Each of the highlighted words is a nominalisation of a lengthy and quite complex
process, condensed here into an abstract noun. This use of nominalisation adds to the
sense of objectivity and formality of the text .
One negative side-effect of this formality is that it provides an opportunity for the writer to "show off". This is partly because the ability to use nominalisation is a symbol of literacy and therefore, an indication that an individual has received an education. In most societies, an educated person has higher social status and even power, and so excessive use of nominalisation is used by some people, especially bureaucrats, as a sort of status symbol.
Unfortunately, documents written in this way are not always very clear except to people immediately involved, and familiar with all of the details, eg in an inter-department memo you might find the following piling-up of nominalisations:
Department of Obfuscation and Prevarication Memorandum
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Introduction
Expressing ideas in an appropriately technical manner
