Kevin Dooley

To become a good writer, it’s important that you’ll be able to switch between nouns and verbs in your sentences.

In English, in general, using nouns will make your sentences longer. Using verbs will make your sentences shorter.

– If you’re a lawyer and you don’t want your client to understand the contract, use lots of nouns.

– If you’re a salesperson, a marketeer, a teacher, a writer, or a scientist who explains his latest research, I recommend using verbs, because they make what you’ve written simpler and more dynamic.

Here are a couple of examples:

1 A We’re making a plan for this afternoon.

B We’re planning our afternoon.

As you can see, the sentence with the noun (A) has 7 words, whereas the sentence with the verb (B) counts only 4 words.

Yet it means the same, doesn’t it?

2 A I will send you a reply after I’ve read the document.

B I will reply to you after I’ve read the document.

3 A The lecturer didn’t like how the student made a simple-minded generalization of the subject.

B The lecturer didn’t like how the student generalized the subject simple-mindedly.

4 A If you compare the two shades of green, surely you can see a big difference.

B If you compare the two shades of green, surely you can see they differ greatly.

5 A The medical experiment was unusable, because instructions to the participants had been needlessly unclear.

B The medical experiment was unusable, because the participants had been instructed needlessly unclearly.

Exercise

Warning: This Exercise is for Advanced (Expert) Learners of English!

Write sentences using a verb instead of the underlined noun:

Sorry, you can’t do this exercise online, as more than one answer is possible. You can check your answers underneath the page.

1 We will give consideration to your ideas, but only after you’ve given them to us in a written presentation.

2 If you come to the cocktail party, I will give you an introduction to Professor Snipe.

3 The preparations for the ceremony were undertaken by three teams who worked around the clock.

4 Hans made a discovery that his colleague had made a significant error in her calculations.

5 In case our skating team wins the championships, we should hold an assembly of all the people who have helped us and thank them.

6 I kindly ask you to put those files in order. They’re a big mess!

7 We don’t allow admission of diabetes patients to this medical trial.

8 The construction of this building seems a bit odd.

9 Wanda finds lots of inspiration in that book.

10 The results of the test seem to be in contradiction one to another.

11 Here, we concentrate ourselves on an investigation of what the Education Minister’s new regulations mean for our students.

12 This article explains how harbouring a preference for big, heavy meals makes people obese.

13 Sports divers Arnold Smith and Dean Winters both lay claim to having found the silver and golden coin treasure in the shipwreck’s hull.

Possible answers underneath (scroll down).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers: 

Your answers may vary slightly.

1 We will consider your ideas, but only after you’ve presented them to us in writing.

2 If you come to the cocktail party, I will introduce you to Professor Snipe.

3 The ceremony was prepared by three teams who worked around the clock.

4 Hans discovered that his colleague had erred significantly in her calculations.

5 In case our skating team wins the championships, we should assemble all the people who have helped us and thank them.

6 I kindly ask you to put those files in order. They’re a big mess!

I kindly ask you to order those files. They’re a big mess!

7 We don’t admit diabetes patients to this medical trial.

8 This building seems oddly constructed.

9 Wanda is inspired greatly by that book.

10 The results of the test seem to contradict one another.

11 Here, we concentrate ourselves on investigating what the Education Minister’s new regulations mean for our students.

12 This article explains how preferring big, heavy meals makes people obese.

13 Sports divers Arnold Smith and Dean Winters both claim having found the silver and golden coin treasure in the shipwreck’s hull. (or: claim to have found)