In English, a nominalization refers to the grammatical construct whereby a verb, adjective, or adverb functions as a noun. Examples: Noun/Nominalization Verb, adjective, or adverb Action Act Administration Administer Cessation Cease Invention Invent exploration explore justification justify To avoid nominalizations, make sure to use more action verbs in your sentences. To do this, you should: ...
Pronouns are an important part of speech because you use them frequently. And you should use pronouns because they serve important purposes. However, you need to make sure when you use pronouns, you’re using them effectively.
The main purpose of a pronoun is “to replace” a noun. The noun a pronoun replaces is called an antecedent. Pronouns, though, need to be coordinated with their antecedents. If they’re not, confusion quickly emerges for readers.
A pronoun is like a backup quarterback. When the starting quarterback is injured, the backup steps in.
A pronoun is any word that stands in for a previously stated noun, and an antecedent is whatever noun a certain pronoun represents. Using pronouns helps make writing less wordy and repetitive, improving style and expressing the same ideas in fewer words. For example, a piece about “George Washington,” the first president of the United States, does not need to repeat this full name every time it appears, but can instead refer to the antecedent “George Washington” with the pronoun “he”:
When George Washington was asked to run for office, he initially refused.
A pronoun is a part of speech that can replace a noun; its antecedent is the person, place, or thing to which the pronoun refers. A vague pronoun reference might include words such as it, that, this, and which, and can leave the reader wondering what or to whom the pronoun refers. Writers who strive for clarity in their work should be certain that each pronoun has a specific antecedent.
