JLPT N1 reference · Discourse and information structure
Nominal style
Nominal style can withhold explicit tense or stance and create concise, impersonal texture.
Core meaning and form
Use noun-final sentences, verbal nouns, and compressed noun phrases to package information in headlines, notes, academic prose, and narration. Because relationships become implicit, excessive compression can produce ambiguity or bureaucratic heaviness.
- Form: Use noun-final sentences, verbal nouns, and compressed noun phrases to package information in headlines, notes, academic prose, and narration.
- Core use: Nominal style can withhold explicit tense or stance and create concise, impersonal texture.
- Context: Because relationships become implicit, excessive compression can produce ambiguity or bureaucratic heaviness.
Examples in context
政府、来月から新制度を導入。Seifu, raigetsu kara shin-seido o dōnyū.Government to introduce new system next month.
今後の課題は人材の確保。Kongo no kadai wa jinzai no kakuho.The future challenge: securing personnel.
突然の知らせ。広がる不安。Totsuzen no shirase. Hirogaru fuan.Sudden news. Spreading anxiety.
Common errors
- Do not select this pattern from an English translation alone; check its attachment and discourse function.
- Keep the surrounding sentence in a consistent plain, polite, spoken, or written register.
Quick summary
- Use noun-final sentences, verbal nouns, and compressed noun phrases to package information in headlines, notes, academic prose, and narration.
- Nominal style can withhold explicit tense or stance and create concise, impersonal texture.
- Because relationships become implicit, excessive compression can produce ambiguity or bureaucratic heaviness.