Representing actions with nouns

Reasons for representing actions with nouns

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Summarising nouns referring to actions and events

Summarising nouns refer back to what has been said, and are often related to reporting verbs. However, some summarising nouns refer back to previously mentioned actions and events:

The decision by Crestone, the US firm, to proceed with exploration was "a grave violation of Vietnam's sovereignty and a new and serious escalation of the situation in the South China Sea''. This development came as Vietnam signed an oil exploration agreement with Mobil Oil Corporation. (SCMP 21/4/94)

In this example, the writer uses the words this development to refer back to, and summarise a previous stretch of writing: The decision by Crestone, the US firm, to proceed with exploration, (and the angry Vietnamese response!). By referring back in this way, the writer is able to link the given information with the new information about Vietnam's agreement with Mobil.

Some summarising nouns which refer to actions and events are neutral, eg development, result, while others can be used to give a negative or positive evaluation, eg disaster, difficulty, achievement, solution .

For further information about writing coherently, see Developing cohesion: Using this to point backwards.

Introduction
 Expressing ideas concisely
Expressing ideas in an appropriately technical manner
Manipulating the elements in a text
Expressing ideas coherently
Neutral summarising nouns
Summarising nouns used to give a negative evaluation
Summarising nouns used to give a positive evaluation
Summarising nouns referring to actions and events