Verb In, Noun Out
A sentence goes into the machine with a person in it, and comes out without one.
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The sentence gets denser. The person who did it falls out.
Recognise the verb-to-noun shift IELTS Reading uses to restructure sentences, and perform it in Writing for density.
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Turn a verb into a noun and the person doing it vanishes. That disappearance is what Not Given questions are built on.
Governments implemented the policy in 2015.
The implementation of the policy took place in 2015.
Same event. The second version turned the verb implemented into the noun implementation — and something disappeared.
The governments are gone.
That is nominalisation, and it does two jobs in this exam that pull in opposite directions.
A sentence goes into the machine with a person in it, and comes out without one.
The sentence gets denser. The person who did it falls out.
The endings are not predictable. Learn them as pairs.
Terms
Definitions
Five nominalised sentences. Decide what the passage actually tells you about who acted.
This is the Not Given mechanism in miniature. In each case, read the passage sentence and ask: does it name who acted? If it does not, no question about who acted can be True.
Passage: The implementation of the policy began in 2015. Question: The government implemented the policy. True, False or Not Given?
Three decisions about whether density is worth the actor you would lose.
One
The sentence: Because the government reduced spending, services got worse. You are writing a topic sentence and want academic density.
Candidates: nominalise / leave as a verb
The expert chooses:
Because:
Two
The sentence: The council rejected the proposal. Your whole argument depends on the reader knowing it was the council specifically.
Candidates: nominalise / leave as a verb
The expert chooses:
Because:
Three
You are reading. The passage says the restriction of imports began in 2019 and the question asks whether the government restricted imports.
Candidates: True / Not Given
The expert chooses:
Because:
Six sentences to convert between the verb form and the noun form.
Verb → noun
Governments implemented the policy. → The of the policy went ahead.
The network expanded rapidly. → The rapid of the network continued.
Spending was reduced. → There was a in spending.
New industries emerged. → The of new industries reshaped the economy.
Prepositions
The allocation resources favoured urban districts.
Restrictions travel remained in force for two years.