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-{{plain|issue a notification to|tell}}
+{{a|drafting|}}{{tag|Nominalisation}} — itself, a nominalisation of the verb to “nominalise”<ref>[[Goedel]] would be pleased.</ref> — is the act, as adored by [[mediocre lawyer|solicitors]] as it is loathed by anyone who cares for the English language, of gutting a precise {{tag|verb}}, by converting it into a {{tag|noun}} and jamming a general {{tag|verb}} in front of it.
-{{plain|have a discussion about|discuss}}
-{{plain|we are supportive of|we support}}<br />
-[[Nominalisation]] is the act, as adored by [[mediocre lawyer|solicitors]] as it is loathed by anyone who cares for the English language, of emasculating a perfectly usable {{tag|verb}} by converting it into a {{tag|noun}} (or {{tag|adjective}}) and jamming a more boring {{tag|verb}} in front of it.
+Or should I say:
-Or should I say:
+:''[[Nominalisation]] is the act, which induces adoration in [[mediocre lawyer|solicitors]] as much as it effects a sensation of loathing in anyone having a fondness for the English language, of ensuring the evisceration of a precise {{tag|verb}} by effecting its conversion into a {{tag|noun}} (or {{tag|adjective}}) and ensuring the jammery of a general {{tag|verb}} in front of it.''
-:''[[Nominalisation]] is the act, which induces adoration in [[mediocre lawyer|solicitors]] as much as it effects a sensation of loathing in anyone having a fondness for the English language, of vouchsafing the emasculation of a perfectly usable {{tag|verb}} by effecting its conversion into a {{tag|noun}} (or {{tag|adjective}}) and ensuring the jammery of a more boring {{tag|verb}} in front of it.''
+So, where one on the [[Clapham omnibus]] might say,
+{{quote|“Last night I shot an [[elephant]] in my pyjamas.”}}
+An nominaliser might say:
+{{quote|“Last night the shooting was carried out by me, in my pyjamas, of an [[elephant]]”}}
-Dead give aways: the string “''ion of''
+Now we should concede at once that the nominalised version forces on us a more disciplined grammar: it is beyond doubt that it is me, and not the elephant who is wearing my pyjamas. That ruins it as a setup for Groucho Marx’s punchline, of course, and it comes at the expense of energy and elegance. In this case, too, it is punctiliousness not really needed given the ''context''. And, if you really wanted to be ''that guy'', there is always the stilted, but unambiguous, “last night, in my pyjamas, I shot an [[elephant]].”
-”
-===[[Effect]]ing a nominalisation: grammatical cross-dressing===
-The worst kind of nominalisation goes a step further: not only must the poor {{tag|verb}} dress up as a noun; an equally unsuspecting {{tag|noun}} must behave like a verb. “[[Effect]]” is this kind of [[nominalisation]].
+Dead give aways:
+*the string “''[[ion of]]''”
+*[[gerund]]s
+*[[infinitive]]s
+*simple verbs: to ''be'', to ''have'', to ''do'', to ''make'' or, most hideous of all, to ''[[effect]]''.
+===Examples===
+:{{plain|[[have visibility of]]|see}}
+:{{plain|issue a notification to|tell}}
+:{{plain|have a discussion about|discuss}}
+:{{plain|we are supportive of|we support}}
+:{{plain|have the appearance of being|seem}}<br />
+===[[Effect]]ing the worst kind of nominalisation===
+The ''worst'' kind of nominalisation goes a step further: not only must the poor {{tag|verb}} dress up as a noun; an equally unsuspecting {{tag|noun}} must behave like a verb. “[[Effect]]” is this kind of [[nominalisation]]:
+:{{plain|effect the conversion of shares|convert the shares}}
-{{seealso}}
+{{sa}}
-*[[obligated]]
+*[[Adjectivisation]]
+*[[Of]] - a dead giveaway.
+*[[To be]] - the feeblest of all verbs.
+*[[Obligated]]
+{{ref}}