JLPT N2 reference · Register and honorifics
Formal written nominalization
Formal prose uses nominalization for abstraction and cohesion, but clear agents and relationships still matter.
Core meaning and form
Use nouns and nominalized clauses to package processes as reportable concepts, often with こと, の, or Sino-Japanese verbal nouns. Excessive stacked nouns can make a sentence opaque; unpack them when responsibility or sequence is important.
- Form: Use nouns and nominalized clauses to package processes as reportable concepts, often with こと, の, or Sino-Japanese verbal nouns.
- Core use: Formal prose uses nominalization for abstraction and cohesion, but clear agents and relationships still matter.
- Context: Excessive stacked nouns can make a sentence opaque; unpack them when responsibility or sequence is important.
Examples in context
安全を確保することが必要である。Anzen o kakuho suru koto ga hitsuyō de aru.Ensuring safety is necessary.
利用者の増加が確認された。Riyōsha no zōka ga kakunin sareta.An increase in users was confirmed.
制度の見直しを行う。Seido no minaoshi o okonau.A review of the system will be conducted.
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 nouns and nominalized clauses to package processes as reportable concepts, often with こと, の, or Sino-Japanese verbal nouns.
- Formal prose uses nominalization for abstraction and cohesion, but clear agents and relationships still matter.
- Excessive stacked nouns can make a sentence opaque; unpack them when responsibility or sequence is important.