Transcript File - Maria Laura Terrone

NOMINALIZATION
Using noun phrases in academic,
scientific and business contexts.
Definition
 Nominalization is the process of transforming
verb phrases into noun phrases. The root
“nominal” means “noun”.
 These noun phrases help us center a lot of
info around a noun. They are specially
common in writing and formal speech, which
is the case in Business Reports, some
presentations, Proposals, Academic and
Scientific Discourse.
Verbs as basic parts of speech
Some times, we speak in Simple Active
Sentences:
 Sales rose.
 Unemployment fell.
Nouns as a static version of verbs.
These verbs have derived nouns to refer not to
a particular action but to the general idea,
that is why I have called them “static
versions”.
 A rise
 A fall
 Fluctuations
But we might want to add more info
 A spectacular rise.
 Wild fluctuations
 Two unexpected falls
 Several major crises.
So we add adjectives, determiners etc and
simple nouns become NOUN PHRASES.(NP)
But even ADJ might not be enough
So we add info in prepositional phrases:
 A spectacular rise IN SALES
 A dramatic fall IN IMPORTS
 The cost OF LIVING.
 A spectacular rise IN the cost OF LIVING.
So as you can see Noun Phrases become more
and more complex.
And besides the info added in ADJ and
PREP PHRASES
We can also add RELATIVE CLAUSES (which
are sentences inside another sentence or
phrase, which are RELATED to the noun
which precedes them)
The major earthquake that hit Japan in March
2011.
The financial and social crisis which Argentina
went through in 2001-2002
And Relative Clauses sometimes can
be reduced to Participle Clauses.
 Participles are forms of the verb. There are
TWO: Present and Past.
 The Present Participle takes the form of the
ING and is used as or in:
1-Verb in continuous tenses.”Sales are
rocketing”.
2-Adjective: “An amazing economic recovery.”
3-Participle Clauses: “The crisis following the
devaluation deteriorated conditions for
investment:”
And there is also the Past Participle
Which is typically found in
1-PERFECT VERB TENSES:
“We have passed new legislation.”
2-As an Adjective: “the unparalleled price”
3-In Passive Voice: “The screw is removed
using a special tool.”
4-In Participle Clauses: the unparalleled price
offered by our competitors”
So we see that…
 Noun Phrases can transmit a lot of
information conveniently “packed” and
“compressed” around a noun.
 If you read a lot of sentences it is easier to
get distracted. When you get all this info
condensed around the noun, it is easier to
see that it is all related to the same thing.
Compare:
Argentina suffered a crisis.
This was a financial crisis.
It was also social.
This happened in 2001 and 2002.
It affected the economy deeply.
Too many sentences! By the time you read the last, you
have forgotten what the first was about.
Compare now a “nominalized”
version:
The financial and social crisis which Argentina
went through in 2001-2002 deeply affected
the economy of the country.
 What is important to realize, and this is
where analysis comes in as a useful tool, is
where the noun phrase begins and ends,
what is the subject (remember subject is
synonymous with topic, it is what we are
talking about) and what is the predicate
(basically, what we say about that topic).
 This will help your comprehension, which is
the first reason why you are studying this.
For instance:
 The sentence
“The new fitness craze they think up make her
laugh”
could present difficulties to even advanced
students unless they can interpret it correctly.
 Maybe it would be easier to think of it as:
“The new fitness craze which they think up
make her laugh”
But we must be aware as advanced users of
English that there is a tendency in everyday
language to omit whatever elements can be
omitted, in this case, “which”.
 The second reason why you are studying
this, besides to aid comprehension of
complex texts, is to help you gain control of
this structure so you can employ it in
WRITING.
 As advanced users of Business English, we
aim to enable you to add precision and
sophistication to your writings by use of these
complex constructions.
So, What are the elements of NOUN PHRASES?
Some of them may not always be present.
Determiners Descriptive
Adjectives
A, An, One,
both,some,
no, several,
the,this,
these, that,
those, ETC
Spectacular,
significant,
sharp, slight,
moderate,
steady,
gradual
NOUN
Rise, fall,
jump,
fluctuation,
variation,
increase,
decrease,
etc
*Prepositional
Phrases,
*Relative
clauses,
*Participle
clauses,
*Infinitival
Clauses
In exports
Which hit the
country.
Following the
devaluation
To follow the
devaluation.
CONCLUSION
 Nominalization is the process of using Noun
Phrases.
 Noun Phrases are complex constructions
centered around a Noun, which are
commonly found in Business, Science and
Academia.
 Becoming familiar with Noun Phrases will not
only enhance your comprehension but also
provide you tools to write professionally.