Día 344 · Nominalización: el estilo académico denso
⏱️ Duración total: ~3 h 15 min — Clase 60 min · Ejercicios 60 min · Reto 60 min · Quiz ~15 min. Puedes dividirlo en varias sesiones el mismo día.
🎯 Objetivo del día
- Entender la nominalización: convertir verbos/adjetivos en sustantivos abstractos.
- Transformar prosa "verbal" coloquial en prosa "nominal" académica.
- Reconocer cuándo nominalizar (formalidad, densidad) y cuándo NO (claridad).
- Empezar a escribir con el estilo abstracto y objetivo del inglés C1.
📖 Clase (60 min)
Introducción y contexto
Abres la Semana 50 con el rasgo más característico del inglés académico y profesional escrito: la nominalización (nominalisation). Compara:
- Verbal/coloquial: Because the company grew quickly, prices went up.
- Nominal/académico: The company's rapid growth led to an increase in prices.
Misma información; la segunda es más densa, formal e impersonal. La nominalización "empaqueta" acciones (grow → growth) y cualidades (rapid → rapidity) en sustantivos que se pueden manipular como conceptos. Es la espina dorsal de ensayos, informes y artículos. El hispanohablante suele escribir muy "verbal" y personal; subir el nivel C1 exige dominar este registro nominal sin caer en la opacidad.
Explicación detallada (regla por regla)
1. De verbo a sustantivo. Sufijos típicos: -tion/-sion, -ment, -ance/ -ence, -al, -ure, -ing.
- decide → decision; develop → development; appear → appearance; arrive → arrival; fail → failure; grow → growth; analyse → analysis.
- They decided to leave. → Their decision to leave…
- The economy grew. → The growth of the economy…
2. De adjetivo a sustantivo. Sufijos: -ness, -ity, -cy, -ism.
- happy → happiness; able → ability; accurate → accuracy; real → realism.
- The results were accurate. → The accuracy of the results…
3. Verbos "ligeros" + nominalización. El verbo pleno se vuelve sustantivo y se añade un verbo vacío (make, have, give, take, carry out, conduct, provide):
- We decided. → We made a decision.
- They analysed the data. → They carried out an analysis of the data.
- He explained it. → He gave an explanation.
4. Compresión de cláusulas. La nominalización permite condensar oraciones enteras en frases nominales que funcionan como sujeto/objeto:
- Because prices rose, demand fell. → The rise in prices led to a fall in demand.
- The fact that the policy failed surprised no one. → The failure of the policy surprised no one.
5. Efecto: impersonalidad y objetividad. Al nominalizar desaparece a menudo el agente ("quién"): The decision was taken (no decimos quién). Esto da el tono objetivo académico, pero puede ocultar responsabilidad — úsalo con criterio.
Vocabulario clave
| English | Pronunciación aprox. | Español |
|---|---|---|
| nominalisation | nóminalaiséishon | nominalización |
| growth | grouz | crecimiento |
| development | divélopment | desarrollo |
| decision | disíshon | decisión |
| analysis | análisis | análisis |
| failure | féilyur | fracaso, fallo |
| increase / decrease | íncris / dícris | aumento / disminución |
| improvement | imprúvment | mejora |
| implementation | implementéishon | implementación, aplicación |
| assumption | asámpshon | suposición, premisa |
| consequence | cónsicuens | consecuencia |
| to carry out | tu kéri áut | llevar a cabo, realizar |
| to undergo | tu andergóu | experimentar, someterse a |
| abstract | ábstract | abstracto |
| concise | konsáis | conciso, denso |
Gramática a fondo
| Verbal (informal) | Nominal (académico) |
|---|---|
| We investigated how X works. | An investigation into the workings of X was conducted. |
| Prices went up, so people bought less. | The increase in prices resulted in reduced consumption. |
| They failed because they didn't plan. | Their failure was due to a lack of planning. |
| The team decided quickly. | The team's rapid decision… |
| We need to know if it's safe. | An assessment of its safety is required. |
Verbos que conectan nominalizaciones: lead to, result in, give rise to, be due to, stem from, contribute to, account for. Ej.: Poor planning gave rise to the project's failure.
Pronunciación y notas de uso
- Al nominalizar cambia el acento: anáLYSE (verbo) → aNÁLysis (sust.); deVÉLop → deVÉLopment (igual aquí); INcrease (sust.) / inCREASE (verbo).
- Plurales irregulares latinos: analysis → analyses, hypothesis → hypotheses, phenomenon → phenomena, criterion → criteria.
- No abuses: 4–5 nominalizaciones seguidas vuelven el texto opaco ("zombie nouns"). Alterna con verbos plenos para claridad.
Errores comunes del hispanohablante
- ✗ The grow of the economy → ✓ The growth of the economy.
- ✗ We did an analyse. → ✓ We carried out an analysis.
- ✗ the develop of the project → ✓ the development of the project.
- ✗ Plural analysis como analysises → ✓ analyses.
- ✗ informations / evidences / researches (incontables) → ✓ information, evidence, research (sin -s).
- ✗ Sobre-nominalizar todo → texto ininteligible; equilibra.
- ✗ make a investigation → ✓ carry out / conduct an investigation.
Mini-lectura de ejemplo
Verbal (B1): People use cars too much in cities. This pollutes the air and makes people sick. Governments should do something so cities are healthier. (La gente usa demasiado el coche en las ciudades. Esto contamina y enferma a la gente. Los gobiernos deberían hacer algo para que las ciudades sean más sanas.) Nominal (C1): The excessive use of cars in urban areas contributes significantly to air pollution and to a deterioration in public health. Government intervention is therefore essential to the improvement of urban living conditions. (El uso excesivo del coche en zonas urbanas contribuye significativamente a la contaminación del aire y al deterioro de la salud pública. La intervención gubernamental es, por tanto, esencial para la mejora de las condiciones de vida urbanas.)
✍️ Ejercicios (60 min)
Bloque 1 · Verbo/adjetivo → sustantivo (8 min)
- decide → 2. grow → 3. fail → 4. develop → 5. happy → 6. able →
- analyse → 8. arrive → 9. accurate → 10. improve
Bloque 2 · Nominaliza la frase (10 min)
- The economy grew rapidly.
- They decided to invest.
- Prices increased sharply.
- The team performed well.
- The policy failed.
Bloque 3 · Verbo ligero (8 min)
Reescribe con make/give/carry out/conduct:
- They analysed the market.
- She decided quickly.
- He explained the rules.
- We investigated the cause.
Bloque 4 · Une con conector causal nominal (8 min)
- Prices rose. Demand fell. (→ …led to…)
- They didn't plan. The project failed. (→ …was due to…)
- The drought continued. Crops were lost. (→ …resulted in…)
Bloque 5 · Traduce al inglés (académico) (10 min)
- El rápido crecimiento de la empresa provocó un aumento de los precios.
- El fracaso del plan se debió a la falta de financiación.
- Se llevó a cabo un análisis exhaustivo de los datos.
- La implementación de la política requirió tiempo considerable.
- La mejora de la salud pública depende de la intervención estatal.
Bloque 6 · Corrige el error (8 min)
- The grow of the company was fast.
- We did an analyse of the results.
- They presented many informations.
- We made an investigation.
- The two analysises agreed.
Bloque 7 · Reescritura de párrafo (8 min)
Reescribe en estilo nominal académico (≈90 palabras): "Tourists come to the city. They spend money and that helps local shops. But they also make the streets crowded and prices go up, so local people get angry."
Ver soluciones
B1: 1. decision · 2. growth · 3. failure · 4. development · 5. happiness · 6. ability · 7. analysis · 8. arrival · 9. accuracy · 10. improvement
B2 (modelo): 1. The rapid growth of the economy… · 2. Their decision to invest… · 3. The sharp increase in prices… · 4. The good performance of the team… · 5. The failure of the policy…
B3: 1. They carried out/conducted an analysis of the market. · 2. She made a quick decision. · 3. He gave an explanation of the rules. · 4. We carried out an investigation into the cause.
B4: 1. The rise in prices led to a fall in demand. · 2. The failure of the project was due to a lack of planning. · 3. The continuation of the drought resulted in the loss of crops.
B5: 1. The company's rapid growth led to an increase in prices. · 2. The failure of the plan was due to a lack of funding. · 3. A thorough analysis of the data was carried out. · 4. The implementation of the policy required considerable time. · 5. The improvement of public health depends on state intervention.
B6: 1. growth · 2. carried out an analysis · 3. much information · 4. carried out/conducted an investigation · 5. analyses
B7 (modelo): The arrival of tourists in the city brings economic benefits, as their spending supports local businesses. However, the resulting overcrowding of the streets and the rise in prices have led to growing resentment among residents.
🚀 Reto del día (60 min)
Tarea: "From speech to paper" — transformación de registro.
- (10 min) Elige un tema (turismo, IA, educación). Grábate hablando 2 min de forma natural (verbal, coloquial).
- (15 min) Transcribe lo dicho.
- (20 min) Reescríbelo en estilo académico nominalizado (180–220 palabras), con verbos de conexión causal (lead to, result in, be due to).
- (10 min) Subraya cada nominalización. Comprueba que el texto siga siendo claro (no más de 3 nominalizaciones seguidas).
- (5 min) Lee ambas versiones y anota 3 diferencias de estilo.
Rúbrica (0–10):
- ≥10 nominalizaciones correctas (sufijos bien) — 3 pts
- ≥3 conectores causales nominales — 2 pts
- Impersonalidad/objetividad lograda — 2 pts
- Claridad mantenida (sin opacidad) — 2 pts
- Sin errores típicos (the grow, informations) — 1 pt
✅ Quiz (~15 min)
- ¿Qué es la nominalización?
- Sustantivo de grow / fail / decide.
- Plural de analysis y de hypothesis.
- Reescribe nominal: Prices rose, so demand fell.
- ¿Informations o information?
- Verbo ligero para: They analysed it.
- ¿Qué riesgo tiene sobre-nominalizar?
- Sustantivo de able y de accurate.
- Traduce: The failure of the plan was due to poor planning.
- Corrige: We made an investigation.
Ver respuestas
- Convertir verbos/adjetivos en sustantivos abstractos para densificar y formalizar. · 2. growth / failure / decision · 3. analyses / hypotheses ·
- The rise in prices led to a fall in demand. · 5. information ·
- carried out/conducted an analysis · 7. Opacidad: el texto se vuelve ilegible ("zombie nouns"). · 8. ability / accuracy · 9. El fracaso del plan se debió a una mala planificación. · 10. We carried out/conducted an investigation.
📚 Recursos
- Manchester Academic Phrasebank – nominalisation y reporting
- Purdue OWL – Academic Writing: nominalizations
- Cambridge Dictionary (busca growth, failure, analysis)
- YouTube: "Nominalisation in Academic Writing" (canal Academic English Now)
⏭️ Siguiente
Mañana: conectores avanzados (linking words C1) — cómo hilar ideas abstractas con cohesión y precisión lógica.
Quiz
Q What is the nominalised noun form of the verb "fail"?
* failure
- failness
- failation
Q Which sentence correctly nominalises "Prices rose, so demand fell"?
* The rise in prices led to a fall in demand.
- The prices rise made the demand to fall.
- Because rise of prices, demand falled.
Q Which form is correct in academic English?
* We carried out an analysis of the data.
- We made an analyse of the data.
- We did an analysis of the datas.
Q What is the main risk of over-nominalising a text?
* It becomes opaque and hard to read ("zombie nouns").
- It becomes too informal and personal.
- It loses all abstract vocabulary.