Today we’ll be talking about nominalization. Nominalization is the process of creating nouns from other parts of speech, mostly verbs and adjectives.
Suffixes
Nouns are often created by adding suffixes.
Adjective → Noun
difficult → difficulty
Math can be difficult.
Jana can solve the problem only with great difficulty.
careless → carelessness
Jana is by no means careless in her study.
She knows carelessness doesn’t pay.
intense → intensity
Her study requires intense concentration.
She always studies with great intensity.
Verb → Noun
to learn → learning
Jana learns math and physics.
Learning isn’t always fun.
to decide → decision
She has to decide which other subject to choose.
It’s going to be a difficult decision.
to fail → failure
If she doesn’t study hard enough, she’ll fail.
She can’t afford another failure.
Zero Derivation
Many nouns don’t differ in form from the verbs or adjectives they are created from. This is called zero derivation.
Verb → Noun
to change → change
Jana failed her exams and then she changed.
It wasn’t a good change, though.
to murder → murder
She started to murder people.
Her murders were very brutal.
Adjective → Noun
intellectual → intellectual
She had to get rid of the bodies somehow. It was an intellectual challenge.
But Jana was an intellectual after all.
chemical → chemical
She snuck into a chemical laboratory.
She stole some chemicals to dissolve the bodies.
Zero-Derivation with Pronunciation Change
Some nouns differ only in pronunciation form from the verbs or adjectives they are created from.
to use /ˈjuːz/ → use /ˈjuːs/
She used a cleaver to kill people.
Her use of the tool was awkward, though.
to present /prɪˈzɛnt/ → present /ˈprɛzn̩t/
Jana’s mother presented the cleaver to her when she turned 18.
Jana used to get really strange presents from her parents.
