Nominalizations are nouns that are created from a verb or adjective. They provide an opportunity for a writer to use a word that is not a noun as though it were one. The verb “evaluate” becomes the noun “evaluation.” The verb “decide” becomes the noun “decision.” Some gerunds, such as “arguing” in the phrase “their loud arguing kept me up last night,” are also nominalizations.
In legal and academic writing, nominalizations appear frequently, partly because they carry an air of dignity. As one commentator posted, no doubt with sarcasm, “The inclusion of nominalizations may evoke the impression of professionalism.”
Nominalizations aren’t always bad, but they can make sentences harder to understand because the key action that ought to be the verb gets buried in noun form. Verbs propel; nominalizations forestall. For example: “A group of 3L students conducted an investigation of the passive action of the law school’s faculty.” An edit that switches from the nominalization of the action verb “investigated” makes the sentence crisper and shorter: “A group of 3L students investigated the passive action of the law school’s faculty.”
As a student, I was frequently told to choose strong active verbs and to avoid overusing nonspecific verbs such as “be,” “do,” or “have.” At times, I found this advice confusing because it’s difficult to avoid those common and useful verbs. Now the advice makes more sense when understood in terms of the problem of nominalizations. Overuse of “to be” is a sign that the important verbs may be hidden in abstract nominalizations.
Can you spot the two nominalizations in the sentence in a fictitious email from a partner to an associate: “It is my requirement that a review of the terms of the contract be done by you.” They are “requirement” and “review,” which I am confident all readers identified. Now, let’s convert those nominalizations into verbs, and make people the subjects of those verbs, to see if the sentence is clearer: “I require that you review the terms of the contract.”
Susie Salmon, the director of legal writing at the University of Arizona, offers an example by Bryan Garner that shows nominalizations can add bulk:
Clunky: The court placed principal reliance on its finding that the existence of official signs as well as state and national flags on the building created the appearance of a government stamp of endorsement on discriminatory conduct. (36 words)Better: The court principally relied on its findings that the signs and state and national flags hung from the building made it appear that the government endorsed discriminatory conduct. (28 words)
Demolish Nominalizations, Let Verbs Propel Your Prose, Ariz. Attorney (Feb. 2014), p. 10 (quoting Bryan Garner, The Winning Brief 193 (2004)).
In my youth, I was told that “antidisestablishmentarianism,” with its 28 letters and 12 syllables (an-ti-dis-es-tab-lish-ment-ar-i-an-is-m), is the longest word in the English language. It may not have been the longest, but even now Oxford Dictionaries Online ranks it the sixth longest word. It is the quintessential nominalization, containing an amazing collection of two verbs, three adjectives, and six nouns.
Laura Graham, a professor at Wake Forest University School of Law, provides a list of common nominalizations and their more powerful verb counterparts.
Avoiding “Zombie Nouns” (Nominalizations): One Way to Bring “Blah” Legal Writing to Life, N.C. Lawyer Magazine (May 2021). She further shares a quick way to catch nominalizations during your editing process: Add the words “made” and “make” and the words “gave” and “give” to your “hit list” of search terms using Microsoft Word’s “Find” feature. Not all nominalizations begin with these words, but many do.
One can nominalize a word that is not a noun so it can be used as a noun, but the art of clear expression typically dictates otherwise. For example, to be clear, don’t say the noun “nominalization” ever; you should use the action verb “nominalize” instead.
