Nominalizations

Writers create nominalizations when they use verb forms as nouns in sentences.  Eliminate nominalizations by changing them to actual verbs.

 

Analyzing the Words

You can ask yourself these questions to see if the word is a nominalization:

• Can I use this word as a verb? (Ask yourself “Can I ______something?”)
• Can I change this word to a verb without changing the meaning of the sentence?

 

Consider the following sentence:
Billy Bob had regard for his structure of the layout when he built the website.

Find the nouns (exclude pronouns): Billy Bob, regard, structure, layout, website. (We have put them in bold above.)

Now, ask yourself “Can I Billy Bob something?” No, of course not. Skip it.

How about “Can I regard something?” YES, I can.
Can I change this word to a verb without changing the meaning of the sentence? YES, he can regard the structure. Nominalization!

Well then, how about “Can I structure something?” YES, I can.
Can I change this word to a verb without changing the meaning of the sentence? YES, he can structure the layout. Nominalization!

Ok, we’re on a roll, so what about “Can I layout something?” Hmm. This one’s tricky. I can lay something out on a page. So YES? Well, let’s see.
Can I change this word to a verb without changing the meaning of the sentence? I don’t know. Let’s try it: He will lay out the website tomorrow. Yeah, that doesn’t sound right to me either. It sounds like he’s going to lay a website out on the table, which is awkward. So we’ll say YES, it will change the meaning. So skip it.

Well now, “Can I website something?” No. That’s just silly. Skip it.

You have two nominalizations for this sentence: regard and structure. Now what?

 

Restructuring the Sentence

Once you find your nominalizations, you need to restructure the sentence and change them to verbs. You’ve already started restructuring the sentence by answering the questions above, so let’s work with those changes:

Billy Bob regarded the structure of the layout when he built the website.
Billy Bob structured the layout when he built the website.

OK, that seems to work. Now, let’s put them together.
Billy Bob regarded how he structured the layout when he built the website.

Wow! That sounds much better!

Billy Bob had regard for his structure of the layout when he built the website.
is now
Billy Bob regarded how he structured the layout when he built the website.

 

Look at the examples and corrections below and see if you can see the difference:

Example of Nominalization How he had a tolerance for her, I will never know.
Correction How he tolerated her, I will never know.

Example of Nominalization He needs to make a change in his thinking about relationships.
Correction He needs to change the way he thinks about relationships.

Example of Nominalization His paper is under consideration for publication by the history department.
Correction The history department is considering whether they will publish his paper.

Now, try to do some exercises on your own.

 

Exercises

Identify and correct the following nominalizations:

1. His avoidance of the confrontation with her is obvious.

2. She made an assumption that the store opened at 8:00am.

3. Johnny conducted an examination of his car.

4. We were successful at the completion of the task.

5. The police made a discovery of the body.

 

Answers

1. His avoidance of the confrontation with her is obvious.
He is obviously avoiding confronting her.

2. She made an assumption that the store opened at 8:00am.
She assumed that the store opened at 8:00am.

3. Johnny conducted an examination of his car.
Johnny examined his car.

4. We were successful at the completion of the task.
We successfully completed the task.

5. The police made a discovery of the body.
The police discovered the body.

 

 

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