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All Load, No Engine
One cart stacked over its sides, one moving.
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The load is not the problem. The load with nothing to pull it is.
Learner unpacks a sentence that carries three or more nominalisations back into verbs, and stops treating noun-heavy prose as more academic.
Preview · progress not saved — Chapter 1 is free
Six sentences. Some of them are carrying one verb and four ideas.
The implementation of the reduction in the provision of services was the cause of the deterioration in public satisfaction. How many real verbs?
The myth, the count test, and what you are actually aiming at.
Candidates are told that nouns sound academic.
What actually happens is that the sentence loses its verbs, and the reader has to rebuild them.
There has been an improvement in the utilisation of resources.
Nine words. Two of them are the verb has been.
One cart stacked over its sides, one moving.
The load is not the problem. The load with nothing to pull it is.
Ten sentences. Four are already doing the right thing.
Sort each item into the correct category
Eight sentences. Three should keep one nominalisation — each says so.
Unpack fully. There has been an improvement in the utilisation of resources. → Resources better.
Unpack fully. There was an occurrence of a decline in the rate of applications. → Applications .
Keep one nominalisation. The introduction of the ban was followed by the occurrence of a sharp reduction in emissions. → The sharp fall in emissions the ban.
Unpack fully. The taking of the decision regarding the closure was a provocation of protest. → The council the libraries, and people protested.
Keep one nominalisation. The achievement of a reduction in congestion is dependent on the introduction of charges. → Reducing congestion on charges.
Unpack fully. The expansion of the suburbs was the result of the extension of the railway. → The suburbs because the railway was extended.
Keep one nominalisation. The making of a decision by the government regarding the release of the report was a cause of criticism. → The government's refusal to release the report criticism.
Unpack fully. The implementation of the reduction in service provision was the cause of public dissatisfaction. → Services , and the public became less satisfied.
Overload a sentence on purpose, then balance it.
Topic: a city extending its metro line.
Sentence 1: write it badly on purpose — three or more nominalisations and be as the only verb. Sentence 2: rewrite it. Keep one nominalisation and give the sentence a strong verb.
The meaning must not change between the two.
One per line, numbered.