Business and Word Choices: Nouns and Verbs
2022-08-26
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1Imagine you are a business owner.
2You hire employees and ask them to do the jobs they are best fitted for.
3One employee is skilled at dealing with people, so you have them interact with customers.
4Another employee is good with numbers, so you have them take care of records and payments.
5In today's Everyday Grammar, we will consider a situation that is in some ways like our fictional business.
6Except instead of an employer putting people into the right positions, we will explore one way a language learner can put words into the right positions.
7What is the right position? The one that provides for the clearest expression of meaning.
8In this report, you will learn about a common situation that can reduce the clear expression of ideas, or clarity.
9This situation involves using noun forms of words that would be better expressed as verbs.
10Let's start with sentence structure.
11We generally divide sentences into two parts: the subject and the predicate.
12For example:
13The boy threw the ball.
14The sentence has this structure:
15Subject - verb - object
16The subject is "the boy." The verb is "threw," and the object is "the ball."
17The farther the sentence gets away from the subject, verb, object order, the harder it becomes to understand.
18Similarly, subjects that are concrete - meaning they can act; they can do something - are better than subjects that are abstract.
19Abstract words or phrases cannot act.
20Abstractions are often a result of noun forms that would be better used as verb forms.
21Consider these two examples.
22The man took a walk.
23The establishment of a better tax policy will take place after the elections.
24The first sentence is much easier to understand - and not just because it is shorter.
25"The man took a walk" is much easier to understand because the subject is concrete - the man.
26The second sentence is much more difficult to understand because it involves an abstract subject - the establishment, as in "the establishment of a better tax policy."
27The noun "the establishment...." cannot do anything.
28It is an abstract noun that would be clearer if it were in verb form.
29How might we change the sentence so that it is clearer? Here is one possibility:
30Council members will establish a better tax policy after the elections.
31In our new sentence, the subject is "council members."
32They can act. We changed the noun form "the establishment...." to the verb form "establish."
33When a sentence seems unclear, check whether it has a noun that might work better as a verb.
34In other words, check to make sure that nouns and verbs are in the best place for what you want to express.
35In her book, The Well-Crafted Sentence, writing expert Nora Bacon provides this example of a poorly structured sentence:
36An emphasis is placed on the development of research skills in our graduate program.
37Bacon suggests that the sentence would be much better if it removed the noun form "an emphasis" and replaced it with the verb form "emphasizes," as in:
38Our graduate program emphasizes the development of research skills.
39Let's take some time to work with these ideas.
40Pause the audio after hearing the example sentence.
41Consider how to change the sentence so that it has a clear subject:
42The candidate's decision to drop out of the race happened when he fell to eighth place in a public opinion poll.
43Here is one way you might change the sentence:
44The candidate decided to drop out of the race when he fell to eighth place in a public opinion poll.
45When we changed the noun "decision" to the verb "decided," the sentence's subject became shorter and clearer.
46We began this report with a comparison to a business owner.
47While the comparison is not perfect, it does provide a useful way to think about sentences.
48The business owner wants to employ a person where his or her talents are strongest.
49In other words, the business owner wants the right person for the job.
50The same idea holds true when you are making choices about language:
51The reason you use a word or structure is because it is the right word or structure for the job.
52The next time you are reading or writing, check sentences that seem unclear.
53If they seem unclear, there is a good chance that they involve a noun that would be better in verb form.
54I'm John Russell.
1Imagine you are a business owner. You hire employees and ask them to do the jobs they are best fitted for. One employee is skilled at dealing with people, so you have them interact with customers. Another employee is good with numbers, so you have them take care of records and payments. 2In today's Everyday Grammar, we will consider a situation that is in some ways like our fictional business. Except instead of an employer putting people into the right positions, we will explore one way a language learner can put words into the right positions. 3What is the right position? The one that provides for the clearest expression of meaning. 4In this report, you will learn about a common situation that can reduce the clear expression of ideas, or clarity. This situation involves using noun forms of words that would be better expressed as verbs. 5Sentence structure 6Let's start with sentence structure. 7We generally divide sentences into two parts: the subject and the predicate. 8For example: 9The boy threw the ball. 10The sentence has this structure: 11Subject - verb - object 12The subject is "the boy." The verb is "threw," and the object is "the ball." 13The farther the sentence gets away from the subject, verb, object order, the harder it becomes to understand. 14Similarly, subjects that are concrete - meaning they can act; they can do something - are better than subjects that are abstract. Abstract words or phrases cannot act. 15Abstractions are often a result of noun forms that would be better used as verb forms. 16Consider these two examples. 17The man took a walk. 18The establishment of a better tax policy will take place after the elections. 19The first sentence is much easier to understand - and not just because it is shorter. "The man took a walk" is much easier to understand because the subject is concrete - the man. 20The second sentence is much more difficult to understand because it involves an abstract subject - the establishment, as in "the establishment of a better tax policy." 21The noun "the establishment...." cannot do anything. It is an abstract noun that would be clearer if it were in verb form. 22How might we change the sentence so that it is clearer? Here is one possibility: 23Council members will establish a better tax policy after the elections. 24In our new sentence, the subject is "council members." They can act. We changed the noun form "the establishment...." to the verb form "establish." 25When verbs act like nouns 26When a sentence seems unclear, check whether it has a noun that might work better as a verb. In other words, check to make sure that nouns and verbs are in the best place for what you want to express. 27In her book, The Well-Crafted Sentence, writing expert Nora Bacon provides this example of a poorly structured sentence: 28An emphasis is placed on the development of research skills in our graduate program. 29Bacon suggests that the sentence would be much better if it removed the noun form "an emphasis" and replaced it with the verb form "emphasizes," as in: 30Our graduate program emphasizes the development of research skills. 31Practice 32Let's take some time to work with these ideas. 33Pause the audio after hearing the example sentence. Consider how to change the sentence so that it has a clear subject: 34The candidate's decision to drop out of the race happened when he fell to eighth place in a public opinion poll. 35Here is one way you might change the sentence: 36The candidate decided to drop out of the race when he fell to eighth place in a public opinion poll. 37When we changed the noun "decision" to the verb "decided," the sentence's subject became shorter and clearer. 38Closing thoughts 39We began this report with a comparison to a business owner. While the comparison is not perfect, it does provide a useful way to think about sentences. The business owner wants to employ a person where his or her talents are strongest. In other words, the business owner wants the right person for the job. 40The same idea holds true when you are making choices about language: The reason you use a word or structure is because it is the right word or structure for the job. 41The next time you are reading or writing, check sentences that seem unclear. If they seem unclear, there is a good chance that they involve a noun that would be better in verb form. 42I'm John Russell. 43John Russell wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 44_________________________________________________________________ 45Words in This Story 46customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business 47predicate - n. grammar: the part of a sentence that expresses what is said about the subject 48concrete - adj. relating to or involving specific people, things, or actions rather than general ideas or qualities 49abstract - adj. relating to or involving general ideas or qualities rather than specific people, objects, or actions 50graduate - adj. : of or relating to a course of studies taken at a college or university after earning a bachelor's degree or other first degree