Nominalisation (decide → decision) – estilo académico
Nominalisation = convertir verbos/adjetivos en sustantivos (decide → decision, fail → failure). Esto hace tu writing más formal y académico, típico de nivel B2+.
1) Mapa rápido
We decided to change the plan.
→ Our decision to change the plan was unexpected.
El contenido es similar, pero el segundo suena más típico de informes, essays e investigación.
Idea clave: convertir acciones (decide, fail, improve) en cosas/ideas (decision, failure, improvement) para sonar más académico.
2) Patrones comunes de nominalización
Algunos sufijos muy frecuentes para formar sustantivos:
| Sufijo | Verbo/adjetivo | Sustantivo | Ejemplo en contexto |
|---|---|---|---|
| -tion / -sion | decide, organize, discuss | decision, organisation, discussion | The decision was very difficult. After a long discussion, we agreed. |
| -ment | develop, improve, achieve | development, improvement, achievement | There has been a significant improvement in results. |
| -ance / -ence | perform, appear, exist, differ | performance, appearance, existence, difference | The student’s performance was excellent. |
| -ity | possible, equal, active | possibility, equality, activity | There is a strong possibility of rain. |
| -ness | happy, aware, weak | happiness, awareness, weakness | Their awareness of the problem increased. |
| otros cambios | strong, wide, long | strength, width, length | The length of the course is six months. |
No intentes inventar sustantivos: aprende los más frecuentes con tu vocabulario de exámenes (IELTS, FCE, etc.).
3) Cómo cambia la estructura de la frase
A) Versión “verbo” (más directa, menos académica)
Researchers decided to change the method.
We improved the system last year.
Many students failed the exam.
B) Versión nominalizada (más académica)
The decision to change the method was made by the researchers.
There was a significant improvement in the system last year.
The exam had a high failure rate.
Observa que la nominalización permite:
- Usar voz pasiva más fácilmente.
- Añadir adjetivos al sustantivo: a significant improvement, a difficult decision.
- Conectar ideas con marcadores: This decision, however, caused several problems.
En informes/essays, alterna frases más “verbales” con algunas nominalizadas para sonar natural pero académico.
4) Verbos frecuentes → sustantivos útiles B2
Algunos pares muy productivos en writing de nivel intermedio-alto:
| Verbo / adjetivo | Sustantivo (nominalización) | Ejemplo |
|---|---|---|
| decide | decision | The final decision will be announced tomorrow. |
| educate | education | Education plays a key role in society. |
| pollute | pollution | Air pollution is a serious problem in many cities. |
| develop | development | The rapid development of technology has changed our lives. |
| improve | improvement | There has been a clear improvement in students’ results. |
| employ | employment | The government aims to increase employment. |
| inform | information | We need more information before making a decision. |
| different | difference | There is a big difference between theory and practice. |
5) Errores típicos y sobreuso de nominalizaciones
| Incorrecto / poco natural | Problema | Versión mejor |
|---|---|---|
| *The pollution of the city is a problem that has an increase every year.* | Demasiadas nominalizaciones mal usadas: pollution, increase. | Pollution in the city is a serious problem which increases every year. (Mezcla verbo + nominalización de forma más natural). |
| *The education of children has a big importance.* | Uso raro de “importance”; artículo poco natural. | Children’s education is very important. / Education has great importance in children’s lives. |
| *There was a do of an improvement in the service.* | No se usa “do of an improvement”. Mala combinación verbo + nombre. | There was a significant improvement in the service. / The service improved significantly. |
| *We made a decide about the project.* | La forma correcta del sustantivo es decision, no *decide*. | We made a decision about the project. |
| *The failure of many students was because of the difficulty of the exam.* | Gramática ok pero muy “cargado”; se puede simplificar. | Many students failed because the exam was difficult. (versión más clara y directa). |
Regla de oro: la nominalización debe ayudar a la claridad, no hacer la frase más pesada. Usa una mezcla de verbos simples y sustantivos abstractos.
6) Mini-práctica
- Forma el sustantivo correcto (nominalización):
a) decide → __________
b) develop → __________
c) employ → __________
d) possible → __________
e) pollute → __________
f) aware → __________
g) different → __________
h) happy → __________ - Reescribe usando nominalización (haz la frase un poco más académica):
a) We decided to change the timetable.
b) The company improved its customer service.
c) Many people are unemployed.
d) The city is polluted because there are too many cars.
e) Students failed the exam because it was very difficult. - Reescribe haciendo la frase menos nominal (más directa):
a) There has been a considerable improvement in public transport.
b) The decision to close the factory caused a lot of anger.
c) The development of new technologies has had a strong impact on society.
d) The increase in pollution is a serious problem.
e) Education has great importance in children’s lives. - Elige la opción más natural para un ensayo académico B2:
a) (We decided / Our decision) to move to online classes was difficult.
b) There was a big (improve / improvement) in the results.
c) The (exist / existence) of social media has changed communication.
d) It is important to (protect / protection) the environment.
e) There has been an (increase / increasing) in the number of users. - (Producción guiada) Escribe 3 frases sobre “tecnología y educación” usando al menos 3 nominalizaciones de esta lista:
education, development, improvement, pollution, difference, importance, decision
Respuestas ejemplo (orientativas):
1) a) decision · b) development · c) employment · d) possibility · e) pollution · f) awareness · g) difference · h) happiness
2) a) Our decision to change the timetable was unexpected.
b) There was a clear improvement in the company’s customer service.
c) There is a high level of unemployment.
d) The city suffers from serious air pollution because of the high number of cars.
e) The exam had a high failure rate due to its difficulty.
3) a) Public transport has improved considerably.
b) The factory closed and this caused a lot of anger.
c) New technologies have developed and strongly affected society.
d) Pollution is increasing and this is a serious problem.
e) Education is very important in children’s lives.
4) a) Our decision… · b) improvement · c) existence · d) protect (o “the protection of…” según la estructura) · e) increase
5) Respuesta libre; intenta que las nominalizaciones sean claras y necesarias.
7) Próximo paso
Continúa con Errores de hispanohablantes B2 (prepositions, false friends, order), donde verás fallos muy típicos (como *actually = actualmente*) y cómo evitarlos en tu speaking y writing.