Transforming the sentence into an extended nominal group

It was previously mentioned that the nominal group structure is elastic as it can expand to include a large amount of pre and post modifying elements around the noun. The elasticity of the nominal group means the information provided in a sentence can be condensed into the nominal group rather than spread out into separate clauses. This action is often referred to as 'packing' information into the nominal group.

Nominalisation involves transforming the active verb of a sentence into a noun (click here for more information on nominalisation). It allows more information to be packed around the noun. As a consequence of the nominalisation process, you will no longer have a sentence but a nominal group; however, by expanding the nominal group to include information from the original sentence, you are then able to link the expanded nominal group to another idea creating a denser, more information packed sentence.

Example:

The verb is nominalised

'are handled'

'handling'.

The nominalised verb becomes the head noun of the nominal group you have formed. The rest of the information from the sentence can be added as contextual or modifying information around the noun.

This example shows that a whole sentence can be transformed into an extended nominal group.

Original:	Toxic chemical are handled carefully in industrial environments.
Extended nominal group:	Careful handling of toxic chemicals in industrial environments..........

The extended nominal group can now be linked to another idea; for example:

Careful handling of toxic chemicals in industrial environments is a necessary safety measure.

Would you like to see some other examples of this process?