1 WHAT IS NOMINALISATION?

It is ofien possible to use a noun group instead of one or more verb or adjective groups. This is called
'nominalisation': The boys laughed loudly and woke up the baby. (= This sentence consists of two actions
(verb groups), one causing the other) The boys' loud laughter woke up the baby. (= This sentence has
one thing - the boys' loud laughter (a noun group) - that causes an action)

2 WHY USE NOMINALISATION?

We use nominalisation for several reasons:

 It can change the emphasis of the sentence. Compare: 1 wasn't voy well so 1 had to stay at
home. My poor health meant I had to stay at home. (= nominalised) The first sentence has two
parts linked by so. Both parts are equally important. In the nominalised version, the action - stay
at home - is the focus of the sentence.
 Because a lot of information can be packed into a noun group, it can make sentences shorter
and leave the rest of the sentence free to add new information: USUAL: He had an insatiable
appetite for adventure and because of this he became involved in a pioneering expedition to
Antarctica. NOMINALISED: His insatiable appetite for adventure led to his involvement in a
pioneering expedition to Antarctica.
 It can refer back to processes already mentioned: After several days they eventually reached the
summit of the mountain. The ascent left them tired and exhausted. (= Here the ascent
summarises the whole of the process in the previous sentence)
 We often prefer to start a sentence with a noun phrase rather than a verb phrase. Compare:
They looked at the evidence and realised that there had been a miscarriage of justice. The
evidence revealed that there had been a miscarriage of justice. (= nominalised)
 Nominalised language is especially typical of formal, scientific and academic English: This
interesting Australian development was possible because of the isolation of these primitive
mammal.
 Nominalisation can make it easier to be impersonal. Compare: lt's always painful when people
criticise you. Criticism is always painful. (= nominalised)

3 HAVE A . . ., MAKE A... , ETC.

We use a number of verbs, e.g. look, laugh, comment, etc., as nouns with verbs such as give, have,
make, take: He gave a short laugh. Let`s have a quick look. She made some remark about his smelly
feet. We do this especially if we want to use an adjective before the noun - this is more common
than using a verb and adverbial phrase: We had a long talk about it. Sometimes there is no
comparable adverbial phrase: She sat down and had a good cry. This is partly a matter of
collocation: give a shout / sigh / hug / welcome / look have a look / belief/ chat /fall / sleep have
belief/ respect take a look / bath / walk /photograph / holiday make a comment / start / claim make
progress

1. Rewrite these questions starting with What.

Example: How old do you have to be to hire a car?

What is the minimum age for hiring a car?

a) How big is the room exactly?

What is the exact size of the room?

b) How fast are you allowed to drive on motorways in Britain?

What is the maximum speed allowed to drive on motorways in Britain?

c) How do you think you would react if such a thing happened?

What would be your reaction if such a thing happened?

d) How tal1 are you precisely?

What is your precise height?

e) How far is it from your house to the school?

What is the distance from your house to the school?

f) Do you know how heavy this package is?

What is the weight of this package?

g) Where does he stand officially in the firm's hierarchy?

What is his official position in the firm's hierarchy?

h) Where do the government stand officially on capital punishment?

What is the government position on capital punishment?

2. Fill the gaps in these sentences with a form of one of these verbs: give/ make/ take/ have a

Example: The doctor wanted to have / take a look at my chest.

a) Can I have a word with you in private?

b) The boy take a deep breath and dived in.
c) Come on, give me a cuddle.
d) Can I make a suggestion?
e) She is giving me a telling-off.
f) I'm sure he'll give a good account of himself in the match.
g) She always manages to make a success of things.
h) Sometimes if you have a good cry you feel better.
i) He took the trouble to visit her later in hospital.
j) They gave us a wonderful send-off.

3. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it is as dose as possible in
meaning to the sentence printed before it.

Example: My father finds much of modern society incomprehensible.

My father has difficulty understanding much of modern society.

a) Any traveler to the sub-continent obviously has to have a valid passport.

Possession of valid passport allows is obligatory to traveler to the sub-continent.
b) Beethoven's late quartets have been very influential on modern composers.

Beethoven's late quartets have exerted modern composers very much.

c) I wasn't at all surprised to find the builders had already gone home.

It came as no surprise to me to find the builders had already gone home.

d) One is constantly threatened by violence in some large cities.

There is a constant threat of violence by violence in some large cities.

e) I explained what had happened but they totally refused to accept what I said.

They found it unnecessary to listen and accept what I said.

f) The article only referred briefly to the problem of inner-city crime.

There is only a brief report to the problem of inner-city crime in the article.

g) Everyone approved of the decision to implement tougher parking restrictions.

There was a general approvance of the decision to implement tougher parking restrictions.

4. Rewrite each sentence using ail the prompt words printed below it.

Example: A lot of people have complained in writing to us about how bad the food was.

received / number/ written /standard

We have received a large number of written complaints about the poor standard of the food.

a) I'm shocked that most members have responded so negatively to what we proposed.

shock / response / proposals / majority

It has come as a shock to me that there was such a negative response to our proposals from the
majority of members.

b) The mayor is reputedly proud of the way he looks.

reputation / pride / appearance

Then mayor has a reputation for taking pride in his appearance.

c) A soldier must be brave, level-headed and obedient.

qualities / paramount importance

In a soldier, the qualities are of paramount importance.

d)What we spend doesn't always tally with what we earn.

sometimes / discrepancy / outgoings / earnings

There is sometimes a discrepancy between out outgoings and our earnings.

e) It's distinctly possible that she will not recover from her illness very rapidly.

distinct / rapid
There is a distinct possibility that she will not make a rapid recovery from her illness.

f) You needn't pay anything until you've received the goods.

There / make / before / of

There is no need (for you) to make any payment before receipt of the goods.

g) She could do with being more confident.

suffers / of
She suffers from (a) lack of confidence.

h) I really did intend to try harder this term, but I haven't succeeded.

every / more / effort / met / no

I really had every intention of making more (of an) effort this term, but I have met with no
success.