Watch out for nominalizations (AKA zombie nouns) - Helen Sword
May 22, 2026•8 min
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Episode description
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/beware-of-nominalizations-aka-zombie-nouns-helen-sword
Few mistakes sour good writing like nominalizations, or, as Helen Sword likes to call them, zombie nouns. Zombie nouns transform simple and straightforward prose into verbose and often confusing writing. Keep your nouns away from the elongating nominalizations!
Lesson by Helen Sword, animation by Bran Dougherty-Johnson.
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