Overview
Use complex noun phrases and nominalisation chains in academic, legal, and formal registers.
Nominalisation Patterns
- Verb → noundecide → decision · analyse → analysis
- Adj → nounrelevant → relevance · significant → significance
- Complex chainThe decision to invest in infrastructure (nominalised + infinitive)
- PostmodifiedThe government's failure to act promptly on the evidence
C2 Academic Uses
- Creates density and formality: more info per clause
- Allows argument as subject: The assumption that X led to Y was challenged.
- Enables metadiscourse: This analysis demonstrates… This claim rests on…
- Compresses events: Following the collapse of the agreement…
Common C2 Mistakes
- ❌ The deciding to invest → ✅ The decision to invest
- ❌ Nominalisation overload — no verbs, sentences become impenetrable
- ❌ The government's fail → ✅ The government's failure
- ❌ Wrong suffix: analysation → ✅ analysis · argumentation → ✅ argument
When to use
Academic writing
The government's failure to implement the recommendations had lasting consequences.
Legal language
The dissolution of the partnership was agreed following extensive negotiation.
Business reports
A significant reduction in operational costs was achieved through restructuring.
Quality journalism
The escalation of tensions followed months of diplomatic failure.