Nominalisation: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 11:39, 13 September 2016

The act, as adored by solicitors as it is loathed by anyone having any kind of fondness for the English language, of emasculating a perfectly usable verb by making it into a noun and jamming a more boring verb in front of it.

Why say “issue a notification to” when you mean “notify”?
Why say “have a discussion” when you mean “discuss”?

The worst kind of nominalisation goes a step further: not only must the poor verb dress up as a noun; an equally unsuspecting noun must behave like a verb. “Effect” is this kind of nominalisation.