What is Nominalisation? How to nominalise a sentence in academic writing.
Summary
TLDRThis video presentation introduces nominalisation, the process of converting verbs or adjectives into nouns. It outlines three key reasons for using nominalisation: enhancing complex grammar structures, achieving higher abstraction and technicality, and aligning with academic writing standards. The tutorial walks viewers through identifying main verbs in a sentence, transforming them into nouns, and restructuring the sentence accordingly. It includes exercises for practice, such as converting verbs to nouns and rewriting sentences using nominalised forms. The video encourages viewers to engage with the provided worksheet and offers additional resources for further learning.
Takeaways
- š Nominalisation is the process of converting verbs or adjectives into nouns.
- š It enhances complex grammar by developing noun-phrase structures.
- š§ Nominalisation aids in achieving higher abstraction and technicality in writing.
- š It is a characteristic feature of academic and formal writing styles.
- š Key verbs in a sentence are identified as candidates for nominalisation.
- š Use of a dictionary, like the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, is recommended to find noun forms of verbs.
- š The process involves changing verb forms to nouns and adjusting grammar accordingly.
- š Practice is essential for mastering the skill of nominalisation.
- š Worksheets and exercises are provided to practice turning verbs into nouns.
- š¬ The presenter encourages interaction by inviting viewers to share their sentences in the comments for review.
- š Additional resources and exercises for nominalisation are available on the provided website.
Q & A
What is nominalisation?
-Nominalisation is the process of changing verbs or adjectives to nouns.
Why is nominalisation used in writing?
-Nominalisation is used to develop more complex grammar noun-phrase structures, achieve a higher degree of abstraction and technicality, and it is a typical feature of academic writing.
How can one identify the main verbs in a sentence for nominalisation?
-The main verbs in a sentence can be identified by looking for action words like 'analysed', 'revealed', 'react', and 'have'.
What is the first step in the nominalisation process?
-The first step in the nominalisation process is to identify the main verbs in the sentence.
How can one find the noun form of a verb?
-One can find the noun form of a verb by using an English-to-English dictionary like the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary.
What changes might be necessary when rewriting a sentence using nominalised verbs?
-When rewriting a sentence using nominalised verbs, one might need to change other word forms, add articles and prepositions, and adjust the grammar to make the nouns fit grammatically.
What is the purpose of Exercise 1 in the worksheet?
-Exercise 1 is designed to build up verb-to-noun knowledge by changing verbs into nouns, making nominalisation a more natural process.
How many common academic verbs are there in Exercise 1?
-There are 26 common academic verbs listed in Exercise 1.
What is the aim of Exercise 2 in the worksheet?
-Exercise 2 aims to practice nominalising sentences by identifying the main verbs, exchanging them for nouns, and rewriting the sentence.
What is the structure of a noun phrase?
-The structure of a noun phrase typically includes a determiner, an adjective, and a noun.
What is the purpose of Exercise 3 in the guided writing section?
-Exercise 3 is designed to practice completing sentences that start with provided noun phrases, focusing on context and grammatical structure.
Where can one find more information and exercises on nominalisation?
-More information and exercises on nominalisation can be found at https://www.academic-englishuk.com/nominalisation.
Outlines
š Introduction to Nominalisation
This paragraph introduces the concept of nominalisation in academic writing. Nominalisation is the process of converting verbs or adjectives into nouns, which helps to develop complex grammar structures, achieve higher abstraction and technicality, and is a common feature in academic texts. The paragraph encourages viewers to download a worksheet for practice and provides a basic example of how nominalisation can improve a sentence. It guides viewers to identify main verbs in a sentence, nominalize them by finding their noun forms in a dictionary, and then rewrite the sentence using these nouns. The paragraph also introduces Exercise 1, which is a word form activity to help build a verb-to-noun knowledge base.
š Nominalisation Exercises and Guided Writing
Paragraph 2 continues with more exercises on nominalisation. It presents Exercise 2, which involves identifying main verbs in a sentence, replacing them with their noun forms, and rewriting the sentence. The paragraph provides a possible answer and emphasizes that there are multiple correct ways to perform nominalisation. It also introduces Exercise 3, which is a guided writing activity where participants are given noun phrases (sentence heads) and must complete the sentences while paying attention to context and grammatical structure. The paragraph concludes by inviting viewers to share their sentences in the comments for review and directs them to a website for more practice and information on academic writing and grammar.
Mindmap
Keywords
š”Nominalisation
š”Abstraction
š”Academic Writing
š”Noun-Phrase Structure
š”Verb-to-Noun Conversion
š”Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
š”Exercise
š”Grammar
š”Technicality
š”Sentence Head
Highlights
Nominalisation is the process of changing verbs or adjectives to nouns.
Nominalisation develops complex grammar noun-phrase structures.
It helps achieve a higher degree of abstraction and technicality.
Nominalisation is typical in academic writing.
The first step in nominalisation is to identify main verbs.
Key verbs in a sentence can be nominalized to enhance the sentence.
Use an English-to-English dictionary to find noun forms of verbs.
Examples of nominalised verbs: 'analysed' becomes 'analysis', 'react' becomes 'reaction'.
Rewrite sentences using nominalised nouns, adjusting grammar and word forms.
Exercise 1 focuses on changing verbs to nouns to build nominalisation knowledge.
Provided table lists 26 common academic verbs for nominalisation practice.
Exercise 2.1 guides in nominalising sentences by replacing verbs with nouns.
Exercise 2.2 is another opportunity to practice nominalising sentences.
Guided writing exercise (Exercise 3) involves finishing sentences with noun phrases.
The presenter offers to check audience's sentences in the comments for practice.
For more practice on nominalisation, a paid download is available.
The video concludes with a brief overview and resources for further learning.
Transcripts
Hello and welcome to this short videoĀ presentation on nominalisation. Before I begin,Ā Ā
there is a worksheet that accompanies this video,Ā Ā
so pause this slide now and download it.Ā The link is in the description below.
Ok, so letās begin. What is nominalisation?Ā Ā
Nominalisation is the process ofĀ changing verbs or adjectives to nouns.
why use nominalisation? Well,Ā there are three main reasons:Ā
1) The nominalisation grammatical process developsĀ more complex grammar noun-phrase structures.Ā
2) Nominalisation helps achieve a higherĀ degree of abstraction and technicality.Ā
3) Nominalisation is a typicalĀ feature of academic writing.
So, letās begin by looking atĀ an example sentence and how theĀ Ā
process works. Here is a basic sentence:Ā We analysed the data from the experiment,Ā Ā
and it revealed that children reactĀ when they have too much sugar.
This type of sentence is ok but could be improvedĀ Ā
by a process of changing the verbsĀ to nouns known as ānominalisationā.
The first part of the nominalisation processĀ is to identify the main verbs: these are here:Ā
analysed / revealed / react / have .Ā The next part is to identify which verbsĀ Ā
can be nominalized. The key verbs inĀ this sentence are āanalysedā and āreactā.
The next step is to change these verbs toĀ nouns. If you are not sure you can use anĀ Ā
English-to-English dictionary like the OxfordĀ advanced learners dictionary to help you.Ā Ā
The link is in the description below and on theĀ worksheet. Here on the website, just put the verbĀ Ā
into the search box and in the dictionaryĀ definition of the verb, look to the rightĀ Ā
and here are some of its word forms ā the noun ofĀ analyse is analysis. Just a small disclaimer tho,Ā Ā
it doesnāt always show all the word forms andĀ you may need to use a variety of dictionaries.
Ok, so here are the two wordsĀ Analysed = analysis / React = reaction
Now you rewrite the sentence using theseĀ nouns. You may need to change other word forms,Ā Ā
add articles and prepositions and change theĀ grammar to make the nouns fit grammatically.
Here is my sentence ā and you canĀ see how the nouns have been used.Ā Ā
Perhaps pause the slide and look at my changes.
Now that leads me onto Exercise 1 and allĀ of these exercises are in the worksheet.
Exercise 1 is a word form or word class activityĀ to change verbs into nouns. Itās really importantĀ Ā
to build up verb-to-noun knowledge to makeĀ nominalisation a more of a natural process.
So, in this table there areĀ 26 common academic verbsĀ Ā
and Iād like you to pause the slide and tryĀ to add the corresponding nouns for each verb.Ā Ā
You can use a dictionary as mentionedĀ before. Please pause the slide now.
Ok here are the answers. PauseĀ the slide and check your answers
So, I hope you did well. Itās notĀ easy and itāll take time to learn.
Now weāll move onto the next activity. Exercise 2.
Exercise 2 is to nominalise these sentences.Ā Ā
Exercise 2.1 Read the sentenceĀ below and identify the main verbs,Ā Ā
exchange these for nouns and rewrite theĀ sentence. Pause the slide and do this exercise.
Here is a possible answer. There are many waysĀ to write this so if yours is completely differentĀ Ā
than mine Iām sure itsās fine too.. PauseĀ the slide and compare to your sentence.
Here are the key changes made.Ā Ā
And here is the structure of noun phrase.
Ok now another exercise to nominalise a sentence.Ā Ā
Exercise 2.2. the same again. Read theĀ sentence below, identify the main verbs,Ā Ā
exchange these for nouns and rewrite theĀ sentence. Pause the slide and do this exercise.
Here is a possible answer. PauseĀ the slide to compare to yours.
Here are the key changes made. And hereĀ is the structure of the noun phrase.
Great, I hope that was helpful. Itās notĀ easy at first but practice really helps.Ā Ā
If you want more practice then go to ourĀ paying download ā link in description below.
Ok, now letās try something different. ExerciseĀ 3 is guided writing. I will provide two sentencesĀ Ā
ā called āsentence headsā. These are noun phrasesĀ and all you have to do is finish off the sentence.Ā Ā
Pay attention to the context , or the meaning ofĀ the sentence head and the grammatical structure.
So, pause the slide andĀ finish off these sentences.
Ok, here are my answers. Again, theseĀ are sample answers and there are manyĀ Ā
alternatives. Pause the slide andĀ compare your sentences to mine.
Actually, youāre all very welcome to putĀ any of your sentences from this lesson todayĀ Ā
in the comments below andĀ Iāll check them when I can.
Well, thatās the end of the video today and IĀ hoped you enjoyed it. It was a brief overviewĀ Ā
of nominalisation and if you would like moreĀ practice, then you can go to the webpage here:Ā Ā
https://www.academic-englishuk.com/nominalisationĀ for more information and more exercises.
Of course, for more information on allĀ areas of academic writing and grammar.Ā Ā
Then please go here: / writing
Until next time, thanks for watching. Goodbye.
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