Turning verbs into nouns
LO: Can I use nominalisation to give my
writing more authority and formality?
Which has more formality? Why?
We walked for charity.
We raised money for the
Leukaemia Foundation.
The charity walk raised
money for the Leukaemia
Foundation.
Lots of writing you do in English uses nominalisations;
the noun forms of verbs.


Nominalisation turns verbs (actions, events)
into nouns (things, concepts, people).
The writing is no longer describing actions: it is focused
on objects or concepts. Look at the example:

“We walked for charity.”

“The charity walk…”

The verb ‘walked’ has been turned into ‘walk’.

The verb (the ‘doing’) was turned into a ‘thing’; a walk.
Being able to do this makes you smarter as it helps
you talk about ideas, not just actions and actual things.
Your turn:
He was depressed.
He had __________.
She achieved Level 7.
Her Level 7 was an __________.
I had to explain myself.
They wanted an __________.
Helen protested against the cuts.
Helen went to an anti-cuts _________.
Hugo discussed it with Jasper.
Jasper and Hugo had a __________.
Arsenal and Tottenham hate each other.
The teams share a __________.
I was so hungry.
I was suffering from __________.
Green can symbolise life and re-birth.
Green used to be a __________ of
evil.
Find and nominalise the
verbs, then create a
sentence that makes sense
using the noun form!
•
I loaded the car boot.
•
She loved her mother dearly.
•
They attacked him and hurt him.
•
I prayed all morning.
•
Her performance really affected the audience.
When to turn verbs into nouns…

When writing formally in English and in other subjects,
nominalisation (changing verbs to nouns) can be very
helpful to make your writing more academic and concise.
Nominalisation allows you to discuss more abstract
concepts by taking the focus off the action and making
the action into a concept or idea.

Example:
“We analysed the data from the experiment, and
it revealed that children react when they have too
much sugar.”



Rewritten in nominalised form:
“The analysis of the data revealed children's
reaction.”
Your turn! Choose 3 or 4 of the active verbs for analytical
writing and create 3 or 4 sentences with them…
Advises
Affects
Alludes to
Argues
Builds
Clarifies
Confirms
Connotes
Constructs
Criticises
Conveys
Demonstrates
Denotes
Depicts
Describes
Determines
Displays
Encourages
Emphasises
Establishes
Examines
Exemplifies
Expands
Explains
Explores
Exposes
Foreshadows
Foretells
Highlights
Hints
Illustrates
Impacts
Implies
Indicates
Informs
Introduces
Manifests
Narrates
Persuades
Portrays
Presents
Refers
Relates
Remarks
Represents
Reveals
Shows
Signifies
Symbolises
Suggests
Supports
Typifies
Your turn… Can you turn the verbs into nouns and
create similar sentences?

The author explores the theme of prejudice in her novel.

The first chapter introduces the setting of Camp Green Lake.

Alliteration emphasises the sub-heading.
Here are the noun forms!
Advice
Description
Effect
Determination
Allusion
Display
Argument
Encouragement
Building
Emphasis
Clarification
Establishment
Confirmation
Examination
Connotation
Exemplification
Construction
Expansion
Criticism
Explanation
Conveyance
Exploration
Demonstration
Exposition
Denotation
Foreshadowing
Depiction
Foretelling
Highlight
Hint
Illustration
Impact
Implication
Indication
Information
Introduction
Manifestation
Narration
Persuasion
Portrayal
Presentation
Reference
Relation
(relationship)
Remark
Representation
Revelation
Show
Significant
Symbol
Suggestion
Support
Type

The sky _____________ _____________.

The cliffs _____________ _____________.

The branch _____________ _____________.
“The floppy clocks represent a
world without time.”

Which analytical sentences can you nominalise to
give your writing more variety and authority?
“The floppy clocks are a
representation of a world
without time.”