By Dana P Skopal, PhD
A reader wants to know ‘what’ you are writing about, so it is important to understand the role of nouns and nominal groups. However, from our workshops and editing work, it seems many writers are struggling with writing clear descriptions of the ‘what’ – that is, the nominal group.
Nouns generally describe the ‘what’, ‘who’, or ‘where’. In English, we can use dependent clauses to add more information, but some writers tend to add too much information. An example of a nominal group is: the principles of plain English.
If your nouns are not clear, then most likely your reader has not understood your message. As your reader wants to know ‘what’ is happening or ‘what’ they need to do, that information is generally in a nominal group. Let’s look at a noun: quality.
Step 1. with a determiner (a/ the) the quality
Step 2. describing the kind of information the essential quality
Step 3. adding more details the essential quality of community life
When reading, our mind is looking to understand what is going on. This ‘what’ can be ‘who’ is doing what or covers ‘what’ is happening. By adding a description around a noun, a writer can be specific – a great way to convey details. Here is another example – describing ‘summary’: a two-page summary that is fundamental for technicians.
Do not hide your message in lengthy complex noun groups. Aim not to confuse your reader by writing long-winded nominal groups such as: the re-establishment of the vegetation cover of a site by the use of nursery grown plant stock instead of naturally germinating native plants (see Skopal & Herke, 2017, p. 145).
Check the length of your noun groups by reviewing the length of your descriptions. Your reader wants to be able to understand the ‘what’ or topic that you are writing about.
Skopal, D. P. & Herke, M. (2017). Public discourse syndrome: reformulating for clarity. Text & Talk, 37 (1), 141–164, doi: 10.1515/text-2016-0041.
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