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nouniness

This Grammar.com article is about nouniness — enjoy your reading!


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  Ed Good  —  Grammar Tips
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In his great work, Modern English Usage, Henry Fowler referred to a “nouny abstract style.” I took that adjective nouny and turned it into the noun nouniness.

The term nouniness describes the style of many writers who, for some unknown reason, refuse to use many verb forms. Instead, they will take a verb like conclude and turn it into the noun conclusion. A nouny writer never states anything; a nouny writer makes a statement. A nouny writer never changes his style; a nouny writer makes a change in his style.

To develop a powerful style, you must learn the concept of verb-based prose. Study the eBook Developing a Powerful Writing Style.

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1 Comment
  • kennethd.44656
    This article is useless. You need to state a clear example of case in which "conclusion" is used instead of "conclude."
    LikeReply2 years ago

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