What Is Nominalisation? How to Nominalisation a Sentence in Writing?

International English Language Testing System ( IELTS )

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Raushan Kumar
Updated on Oct 9, 2025 20:59 IST

By Raushan Kumar, Assistant Manager Content

Overview

Nominalisation is the process of converting verbs, adjectives or other words to nouns. This is quite important while seeking to attain the formal tone required in IELTS. It is commonly used in academic and formal writing to give an objective tone to sentences. Such as, the verb 'decide' becomes the noun 'decision'. This helps bring out the ideas more clearly and formally. This can add more quality to your writing skills for IELTS essays or reports.

What is Nominalisation?

Nominalisation allows writers to create more abstract and general statements. These are characteristic of formal academic writing.

Use of Nominalisation IELTS Writing?

  • Nominalised sentences often sound more formal tone. It is expected in academic essays.
  • By focusing on concepts rather than actions, nominalisation can make your arguments more concise.
  • Nominalisation allows for integration of complex ideas into a single noun.
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Examples of Nominalisation

Here are 10 examples of sentences where verbs or adjectives are transformed:

Without Nominalisation With Nominalisation
The committee decided to implement new policies. The committee's decision led to the implementation of new policies.
They agreed to the proposal. Their agreement to the proposal was unanimous.
The company decided to expand its services.

The company's decision to expand its services increased profits.

The team performed well in the competition.

The team's performance in the competition was impressive.

The government failed to address the issue.

The government's failure to address the issue caused public dissatisfaction.

 

How to Apply Nominalisation into Writing?

To effectively use nominalisation into your IELTS writing:

  • Review your sentences to find verbs and adjectives. It can be transformed into nouns.
  • Convert these words into their noun forms. Adjust sentence structure accordingly.
  • Ensure that Nominalised sentence remains clear. Transformation enhances overall readability.

Nominalisation Exercises

Apply your learning of nominalisations in the exercises given below. 

Exercise
Convert verbs in following sentences into nouns (nominalisation).

Questions:

  • Government decided to increase taxes.
  • The company improved its customer service.
  • Manager rejected the proposal.
  • Team failed to meet the deadline.

This was all about Nominalisations. Prepare this topic for an improved performance at the C1 level of grammar in IELTS exam.

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