Ch 2

Academic Grammar

Nominalisation · complex clauses · hedging · impersonal structures

Correct the errors or transform the sentences as instructed. Check your answer with the model.
Exercises
1
Convert: "Researchers discovered that the drug was effective."
Nominalise "discovered" → "discovery" and "effective" → "effectiveness".
2
Make impersonal: "I argue that climate change requires urgent action."
Replace "I argue" with "It is argued / It could be argued".
3
Add hedging: "Social media causes depression in teenagers."
Use "may", "can", "appears to" to qualify an absolute claim.
4
Nominalise: "The government failed to act quickly."
Nominalise "failed" → "failure". The action becomes a noun phrase subject.
5
Convert to passive: "Experts have criticised the report."
Passive moves the focus from agent (experts) to the object (report).
6
Write a sentence using "It is thought that..." about artificial intelligence.
Impersonal "It is thought that" avoids personal attribution and sounds more authoritative.