More on Conciseness: Nominalization (!)

Nominalization—that’s the official word for it, but that’s a hard word (see Fog Index). I call them smothered verbs, and especially in combination with other conciseness issues, this one is a real problem.

Definition first—a smothered verb is a verb that a writer has turned into a noun. You should already see the problem. If you take the verb and make it into a noun, you then have to find another verb. So you have already added an unnecessary word to your writing. If you are trying to stretch your writing out to accommodate a page length imposed by a teacher, go right ahead. Keep in mind, however, that when you use smothered verbs in technical documents, all you are doing is wasting time (the reader’s), space (yours), and money (yours or your boss’s).

So what does a smothered verb look like? How many people write “make a calculation”? That is a smothered verb, as is “effect a change,” “be in attendance,” “place an emphasis on,” “furnish an explanation of,” and “give a justification for.”

What you really mean is calculate, change, attend, emphasize, explain, and justify. 

Note what has happened. First, you are now using one word instead of two, three, or four. Second, you are using easy words more than hard ones (see Fog Index again). Pretty clearly, if you want to reduce your Fog Index, you must eliminate smothered verbs.

By the way, you should see something else that many smothered verbs have in common: word endings. Words that end in -tion, -cian, -ance, and –ence should warn you that you are venturing into smothered verb territory. And another by the way: I did not say you should not use those words (explanation, justification, attendance, etc.). All I said was don’t smother your verbs.

Some other examples:

Ecosystem destabilization occurred

Give preference to

A conclusion was reached

With the possible exception of

A demonstration was performed

An analysis was conducted