Joy English · Level C2 · Stylejoy-english.com

Nominalisation in academic style

Name:Date:

Turn verbs and adjectives into nouns to make writing denser, more abstract and more formal.

Choose the correct form

Choose the option that completes each sentence correctly.

There has been a marked ___ in the number of people working from home.
- a) increased
- b) increasingly
- c) increase
- d) increasing
Which sentence expresses "Because the river flooded, the village was cut off" in a nominalised form?
- a) The village's isolation caused the river to flood.
- b) The flooding of the river cut the village off.
- c) The flooding of the village cut the river off.
- d) The river's flooding was cut off by the village.
The government's ___ on imported fuel has fallen sharply.
- a) rely
- b) reliable
- c) reliably
- d) reliance
A growing ___ of the risks has led companies to review their policies.
- a) aware
- b) awarely
- c) awareness
- d) awarenesses
The new rules gave ___ to a number of unexpected problems.
- a) rise
- b) rose
- c) raise
- d) arise
The company's rapid ___ worried investors.
- a) expand
- b) expansive
- c) expansion
- d) expansively
Our ___ to the new policy was slow.
- a) responsive
- b) respond
- c) responsively
- d) response
Which sentence would be clearest for a general reader?
- a) The implementation of the adoption of the revision was carried out by the team.
- b) The team revised the plan and put it into practice.
- c) Revision adoption implementation by the team occurred.
- d) The occurrence of the team's revising took place.

Type the missing word. The word in brackets shows the verb or adjective the answer comes from.

The committee hesitated, and this delayed the project. → The committee's ___ delayed the project. (hesitate)
Prices rose too fast, which angered residents. → The rapid ___ in prices angered residents. (rise)
Scientists disagree about the cause. → There is ___ among scientists about the cause. (disagree)
The spread of misinformation has ___ to a loss of public trust. (one word)
Teachers must be able to adapt. → Teachers' ___ is vital. (adaptable)
Customers were loyal, so sales stayed steady. → Customer ___ kept sales steady. (loyal)
The increase ___ demand for housing has pushed up rents.
There is a widespread reluctance ___ accept the findings.

c) increaseAfter a marked, we need a noun, and the noun takes the preposition in: an increase in.
b) The flooding of the river cut the village off.Only option two keeps the cause and effect in the original order: the flood is the cause and the isolation is the result.
d) relianceThe noun reliance takes the preposition on.
c) awarenessThe noun awareness takes of and is uncountable here.
a) riseGive rise to is a fixed phrase meaning "cause".
c) expansionAfter the possessive and an adjective, a noun is needed: rapid expansion.
d) responseThe noun response is followed by to.
b) The team revised the plan and put it into practice.The second sentence uses verbs, so the actor and actions are clear. The others pile up abstract nouns.

hesitation / hesitancyThe noun form of hesitate is hesitation; hesitancy is also correct.
rise / increaseWe say a rise in or an increase in prices.
disagreementThe noun form of disagree is disagreement.
led / contributedLed to and contributed to both link a cause with an effect.
adaptabilityThe noun form of adaptable is adaptability.
loyaltyThe noun form of loyal is loyalty.
inWe say an increase in demand.
toReluctance is followed by to + infinitive.