Nominalisation — Legal Register — The Grammar of Accountability
Grammar: Nominalisation
Free ESL grammar exercise on nominalisation — legal register themed around the grammar of accountability. Printable worksheet from EnglishPlans.com.
What's on this worksheet
A Level 6 (proficiency) ESL grammar exercise on crime, practising nominalisation. The worksheet has a short reading excerpt, a grammar reference and graded practice items.
From the reading
Legal drafters convert human actions into abstract objects: "the tribunal determined" becomes "the tribunal's determination"; "the state failed to protect" becomes "the state's failure to provide adequate protection.
Grammar: Nominalisation
- Verb → Noun
- The court determined liability. → The court's determination of liability. — agent recedes into possessive
- Adjective → Noun
- Accountable conduct → a culture of accountability. — abstract concept replaces descriptive quality
Sample items
- The ______ of the suspect took place without the presence of legal counsel.
- The court's ______ of the case rested on a narrow reading of the founding treaty.
- Evidence of ______ in the scheme was presented on the second day of the hearing.
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