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There are various reasons why writers might prefer to express an action with a noun instead of a verb
CHARACTERISTICS OF “ACTION” NOUNS
Various Guinlist posts highlight the fact that in English an action can sometimes be expressed as easily by a noun as by a verb. Nouns with this use (e.g. movement) are usually very similar to a particular verb (MOVE). Many have a characteristic suffix (-ment, -tion, -al, -ure, -ence etc.), but some, like change and increase, do not (see 249. Action Noun Endings). Most action nouns are uncountable but also usable in a countable way to express a different, non-action meaning (see 280. Alternative Meanings of “Action” Nouns).
The properties of action nouns make them very similar to gerunds – verbs given noun-like properties by the addition of -ing (see 70. Gerunds); the two forms are indeed often interchangeable:
(a) Success (= Succeeding) in examinations follows hard work (= working hard).
However, action nouns are not exactly the same as gerunds. They cannot, for example, replace a gerund referred to by an earlier it (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “It”), whereas in some other places they are the better choice. This post is about situations where action nouns are common. Much should be understood as applicable to gerunds as well (though perhaps with slightly less formality), unless there is a statement to the contrary.
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ACTION NOUN USES
1. Saying Something about an Action
Compare the following:
(b) Penicillin was discovered by Fleming.
(c) The discovery of penicillin (by Fleming) has saved many lives.
Sentence (b) is focussed on naming an event, and does so with a verb. Sentence (c) names the same event, but is more focussed on adding something extra about it (perhaps assuming the event itself to be already familiar to the reader – see 156. Mentioning what the Reader Knows Already). To achieve this new focus, the event is made into the subject of another verb, causing it to be a noun. Its own subject and object then need prepositions before them (see 31. Prepositions after Action Nouns 1).
In other cases, an action might be the object of a verb or follow a preposition:
(d) Doctors celebrate the discovery of penicillin.
(e) Many lives have been saved since the discovery of penicillin.
Gerunds also have a focus-changing use, but are rarely a straight swap for an action noun. They seem to link their action more closely with the subject of the sentence. Sentence (d) gives no information about who discovered penicillin, but replacing the discovery of with discovering would say doctors were responsible. In (e), no replacement is possible at all: discovering would nonsensically attribute the discovery to many lives.
One kind of information that professional writers seem especially fond of providing about actions is their relation to other actions – a function typically associated with conjunctions, e.g.:
(f) If excess alcohol is consumed, consciousness is lost.
The conjunction if here expresses the relation of cause-effect between the two underlined verbs (see 179. Deeper Meanings of “If”). For other common conjunction meanings, see 174. Eight Things to Know about Conjunctions, #2.
Sentences like (f) often allow paraphrase with an action noun:
(g) Consumption of excess alcohol causes loss of consciousness.
Here, verb-linking if has become the noun-linking verb causes. Common conjunction-replacing verbs are:
as, because, if, since, when (All Sentence-Starting)
ALLOW, CAUSE, CONTRIBUTE TO, BRING ABOUT, ENABLE, ENSURE, FACILITATE, INDUCE, LEAD TO, NECESSITATE, PERMIT, PREVENT (+ negative result), RESULT IN
as, because, if, since, when (All Mid-Sentence)
DEPEND ON, INVOLVE, REQUIRE, RESULT FROM
after, before, when
FOLLOW, PRECEDE
when, while
ACCOMPANY, PARALLEL
As this shows, cause-effect verbs are particularly common. For more about them, see 32. Expressing Consequences and 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”. For more on the while correspondence, see 225. Simultaneous Occurrence.
A valid question when an action noun can replace a conjunction is why it should do so, given that conjunctions are simpler. I think action nouns are sometimes overused, but one possible advantage is that, like connectors, they – or rather the verb accompanying them – allow the relation to be expressed more precisely, since conjunctions can be quite vague (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors). Some action nouns, moreover, are technical terms with no verbal equivalent.
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2. Showing a Link between Sentences
One possible reason for a noun action being familiar to its reader is its mention in a previous sentence, like this:
(h) Moisture evaporates in the sun’s heat. This evaporation enables clouds to form.
In such situations, the likely use of repetition incidentally helps readers to follow the flow of a text – it is what I have elsewhere called “good repetition for linking” (see 24. Good and Bad Repetition). It is especially frequent in process descriptions. Adding this is common, as it is with other immediately-repeated nouns (see 28. Pronoun Errors).
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3. Avoiding Undesirable Words
Words may be considered undesirable because they seem informal (e.g. I/we/you), or too obvious (e.g. the police arrested the suspect), or repetitive, or unknown (e.g. someone broke the window), or a secret. A familiar avoidance tool is passive verbs, with which the subject of their active equivalent can be omitted.
Action nouns resemble passive verbs in allowing avoidance of an undesirable verb subject. They are particularly useful when a verb cannot be made passive because it is either intransitive (see 113. Verbs that cannot be Passive) or already passive, as in these examples:
(i) The river flows northwards.
(j) I was interviewed in the summer.
In (i), if river is an obvious or repetitive word, it can be avoided by saying The flow is …, while informal I in (j) disappears with The interview took place … . In both cases, the action noun accompanies an appropriate “dummy” verb (is, took place) to keep the sentence grammatical. The exact verb chosen depends on the action noun (see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?). For more examples of subject avoidance with action nouns, see 46. How to Avoid “I”, “We” and “You”.
Action nouns with a dummy verb can also enable an unwanted object to be avoided, such as the obvious matter in the following:
(k) The committee made a decision (= decided the matter).
For more examples, see 39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”? Note that subjects and objects of verbs do not have to be dropped with action nouns. For ways of keeping them, see 49. Prepositions after Action Nouns 2.
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4. Avoiding a Passive Verb
Sentence (j) above illustrates a passive verb that is unsuitable because of its subject (I). Sometimes, however, a passive verb is considered unsuitable just because it is passive. This blog frequently defends passive verbs (see 27. How to Avoid Passive Verbs), but admits that sometimes their avoidance might be better. In the following example, an action noun seems preferable to the underlined passive verb:
(l) Failure to declare restricted goods will necessitate their being confiscated (by customs).
The passive here usefully enables the obvious word customs to be unmentioned, but its need for being makes it unwieldy. The action noun confiscation is neater because its passive meaning does not need grammatical additions like being (see 298. Grammar Meanings without Grammar, #6). For similar examples, see 65. Verbs that Mean “Must” or “Can”.
The passive meaning of confiscation in (l) is fairly obvious. Sometimes, however, this meaning needs indicating with a special verb (see 21. Active Verbs with non-Active Meanings). Common ones are HAVE (e.g. have a shower: see 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE), SEE (e.g. see changes: see 315. Ways of Using SEE, #7), EXPERIENCE and UNDERGO.
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5. Naming Actions in Contexts Demanding Nouns
With some action meanings, the surrounding words make a verb ungrammatical. Suppose, for example, the meaning of the verb MEMORISE needed to be added to the following:
(m) Foreign language learning requires motivation and… .
The need here is for a noun, not a verb, because there is continuation of a list starting with a noun (motivation), the rule being that list members after the first must repeat its grammatical form (see 93. Good and Bad Lists). The gerund form memorising could be used in this situation, but the action noun memorisation better parallels motivation.
Another common place requiring a noun is after a preposition (see 84. Seven Things to Know about Prepositions, #1). Some prepositions are more likely than others to introduce an action, including purpose-showing for (see 60. Purpose Sentences with “for”), aim-showing at (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, # 3) and means-showing by or through (see 73. Prepositions for Saying How), e.g.:
(n) Water leaves the ocean through evaporation.
One advantage of means-showing prepositions is that they can minimise excessively short sentences or overuse of and (as in Water evaporates and leaves the ocean – see 210. Process Descriptions, #5).
Gerunds too are possible after action-introducing prepositions – indeed, they may be preferable when combined with an object-like noun, as they do not necessitate of in between (cp. constructing X versus construction of X – see 70. Gerunds).
Also noun-requiring are titles and headings (see 178. How to Write a Heading). For example, instead of X is Analysed, a heading would normally be Analysis of X. Action nouns in headings seem especially likely to echo essay instruction verbs.
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6. Asking “How” Questions Indirectly
Indirect questions begin sometimes with a question word like why or how, and sometimes with a similar-meaning noun like reason or way (see 185. Noun Synonyms of Question Words). However, indirect “how” questions, can instead begin with an action noun made from the verb in their direct equivalent, like this:
(o) This chapter explains demand measurement (= how demand is measured).
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PRACTICE EXERCISE (ACTION NOUNS)
Interested readers are invited to try and reword each of the following with an action noun (Answers below).
1. When temperatures rise, clouds form (Showing a relation).
2. It is necessary to analyse how colds are spread (Asking a “how” question).
3. Forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate (Avoiding a passive).
4. Nobody likes it when they lose vital data (Talking about an action).
5. Herds of wildebeest periodically migrate across Tanzania seeking food. An amazing spectacle is created (Showing text links).
6. Workers can reduce malaria if they minimise mosquito bites (Action after by).
7. To alleviate poverty, the Government must act (Showing a relation).
8. Visual aids will help an audience to enjoy a presentation (Avoiding an unwanted verb subject).
9. You must not take photographs (Avoiding an unwanted subject).
10. It is important to observe changes (Talking about an action).
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Suggested Answers (Action Nouns Underlined)
1. A rise in temperatures causes the formation of clouds.
2. It is necessary to analyse the spread of colds.
3. The destruction of forests is happening at an alarming rate.
4. Nobody likes the loss of vital data.
5. Herds of wildebeest periodically migrate across Tanzania seeking food. This migration creates an amazing spectacle.
6. Workers can reduce malaria by minimisation of mosquito bites.
7. The alleviation of poverty requires Government action.
8. Visual aids will help (audience) enjoyment of a presentation.
9. Photography is prohibited/not allowed.
10. Observation of changes is important.
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