English Practice Now

Nominalizing Complex Ideas

As mentioned in the introduction, being able to nominalize helps you express complex ideas more accurately and succinctly.

Thesis Statements:

A key benefit of nominalization for students is the ability to write non-parallel thesis statements more comfortably.

  • With careful investigation into the root causes of gaming addiction, it becomes clear that it is not only preventable with a handful of cost-effective measures but treatable with simple at-home interventions.
    • Subtopic 1: root causes of gaming addiction
    • Subtopic 2: preventable – cost-effective measures
    • Subtopic 3: at-home interventions for treatment

Practice

Before you complete this exercise, it is recommended that you complete the previous nominalization practice (Exercises 1-4) to ensure you are familiar with the building blocks of nominalization. 

A. Practice combining the ideas below, keeping the bolded verb as the only verb in the sentence. As there are many possible combinations, only example combinations can be provided. Consider checking your work with an instructor to get more accurate feedback.

  1. The students’ presentations were too long. The instructor had to push the exam back. This made the students very happy.
  2. The lab techs damaged the machine. This machine was for sterilizing equipment. This cost the lab thousands of dollars.
  3. The dean implemented a new policy. This policy encouraged more flexibility with course schedules. This upset administrative staff in the registrar’s office.
  4.  Clients complained about delayed payments. This motivated the team lead to schedule overtime. This caused increase costs in overtime spending.

B. Now practice combining these subtopics into a single thesis statement. 

  1. Statement 1:
    1. We reviewed the background for the pipeline expansion
    2. We analyzed the data available
    3. It is clear that the costs are too high to justify building it.
  2. Statement 2:
    1. The pros of nationalized dental care
    2. The cons of nationalized dental care
    3. This shows how it might be implemented.
  3. Statement 3:
    1. The effects of plagiarism on students
    2. The effects of plagiarism on academic institutions
    3. Strategies for reducing plagiarism 
 
 

 

Suggested Answers Below (scroll down to review)

A.

1. The instructor pushing the exam back due to the students’ presentations being too long made the students very happy.

2. The lab techs’ damage to the machine used for sterilizing equipment cost the lab thousands of dollars.

3. The dean’s implementation of a new policy to encourage more flexibility with course schedules upset administrative staff in the registrar’s office.

4.  Clients’ complaints about delayed payments motivated the team lead to schedule overtime, causing increased costs in overtime spending.

B.  

1. After reviewing the background for the pipeline expansion and analyzing the data available, it becomes clear that the costs are too high to justify building it.

2. A careful analysis of both the pros and cons of nationalized dental care helps elucidate how a national dental care program might be implemented effectively.

3. Exploring the effects of plagiarism on both students and academic institutions, it becomes apparent that strategies for reducing plagiarism are despearately needed.

Congratulations! You’re finished the practice with nominalization. Click here to go back to the main page and continue practicing.