Noun phrases

Nominalisation

In English we tend to limit the number of verbs in a sentence, especially in formal or written English. This is called nominalisation. Compare these two sentences:

• If you read more books, your vocabulary will increase. (two verbs)
• Reading more books means an increase in your vocabulary. (one verb)

We do this by:

-using nouns instead of verbs: will increase an increase

-using the -ing form of the verb: read reading

Here are some more examples:

• She succeeded because she worked hard. (two verbs)
• Her success was due to her hard work. (one verb)
• Man is destroying the ozone layer and this is causing skin cancers to increase. (three verbs)
• The destruction of the ozone layer is the cause of the increase in skin cancers. (one verb)