Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace by Joseph M. Williams. In this article, I will discuss one princple of clarity: avoiding nominalizations.
Mr. Williams advises authors to avoid nominalization and abstract nouns on in chapter 3, pg. 33:
- Make Main Characters Subjects
- Make Important Actions Verbs
Let’s discuss the first principle. Abstract nouns are often verbs nomalized to be subjects. Consider the following sentence:
Surfing on a windy day helps catch better waves.
Who is the character in the sentence? What is the verb?
We should make the character, the surfer, the subject of the sentence. We could revise it to say:
Surfers catch better waves on windy days.
The second princple describes how to “make important actions verbs” (pg. 33). Examine the sentence below:
My argument was that Congress should avoid using taxpayer funds to further the destruction of America
I could improve the sentence by stating:
I argued that Congress should avoid using taxpayer funds to further destroy America
Please post your comments and suggestions to this post. Also buy a copy of Mr. Williams’s book.
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