Daniel Kies Department of English College of DuPage
Composition English 1101		Contact Form

Nominalization and Passive Voice

To improve our writing style, to write with greater economy, clarity, and precision, many stylists offer the following advice: Whenever possible, use agents as subjects and actions as verbs. Agents as Subjects and Actions as Verbs Most English sentences follow a regular pattern between the grammar of the sentence and the sentence's meaning. In the usual, unmarked cases, being the subject of the clause in English means being the agent, the conscious initiator of the action. To be a verb means to express an action, and to be the grammatical object means to be the goal of the action represented in the verb. For example, consider the example below.		Current work:   Days remaining this term: Notes: Add Note |  Log in? | Privacy | Change Name & Email Mail this page to a friend
GRAMMAR Subject Verb Object ______________________________________________________________ MEANING Agent Action Goal ______________________________________________________________ EXAMPLE We lacked pertinent information. The dean rejected the application unexpectedly.

Because this pattern is so common in English, many people believe that the first rule of clear writing is to put the agent (the party responsible for the action) in subject position and the action in the verb position. If we do not follow this "rule", then we risk losing important information. Notice in the sentences below that the verbs from the examples above have been converted into nouns (a process called nominalization).

          
Subject (a nominalization)               Verb     
___________________________________________________________

Agent & Action & Goal                   "empty" Verb
                                        (often a form of be)
____________________________________________________________

EXAMPLES

Our lack of pertinent information        was     bothersome.     
The dean's rejection of the application  was     unexpected.

Often, however, we can delete the agent from the nominalized sentence, as in:

Subject (a nominalization)               Verb
_____________________________________________________________
          
Action & Goal (Agent deleted)            
_____________________________________________________________

EXAMPLES

The lack of pertinent information        was      bothersome.
The rejection of the application         was      unexpected.
          

Sentences like those above may seem more formal, but we can easily see their difficulties. Nominalized sentences pack much of their information into the subject position, and that makes them more difficult to read easily and to understand quickly.

Another difficulty with those sentences is their verbs. Those verbs are empty of any meaning (like was), or they are redundant. This problem adds to the dullness of the sentence because a major part of the sentence (the verb) contains little meaning to add to the sentence as a whole.

Besides the nominalization, there is another common sentence which allows us to move the agent out of subject position and to delete the agent — the passive voice sentence. Passive voice allows us to take the usual order of agent & action & goal and to reverse the sequence into goal & action & agent. The problem with overusing the passive voice, as with nominalization, is that agents are likely to be deleted, forcing the reader to rely heavily on prior context to interpret the sentence.

      
 	  Subject         Verb            Object

ACTIVE    Agent           Action          Goal

	  The committee   will announce   the results.   


PASSIVE   Goal            Action               Agent
          
	  The results     will be announced    by the committee.
	  The results     will be announced.   (Agent deleted)

NORTHERN ANYWHERE UNIVERSITY May 2, Dear Mr. Smith:      Thank you very much for applying to Northern Anywhere University as a transfer student beginning the Fall Semester of 2002. We are sorry to inform you that your application has been rejected. However, we are certain that you will have no trouble continuing your education at another institution of higher education.      Thank you again for considering Northern Anywhere University. Sincerely, Department of Admissions

The results of all these features of our language can be quite persuasive in themselves. Notice in the example on the right that passive voice prevents poor Mr. Smith from knowing exactly whom to question. In effect, Smith has been set up for a run around because passive voice has deleted the agent from the crucial sentence, forcing Smith to play "phone tag" in any attempt he makes to find the reason for his application's rejection.

Notice that in addition to passive voice the letter also uses pronouns of power and solidarity (such as We), and the language of certitude (as in we are certain), to further persuade Smith that any attempt to question the decision is futile.

I have a set of related pages for you to see:

• Sentence Variety, which is part of Unit 14, and
• Sentence Euphony, which is part of the reading for Unit 15.

I have also prepared an exercise for you to practice what you have learned.

• Lab 8: Sentence Structure and Style

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