Marketing & branding

Nominalisation: turning verbs into nouns

• Formal Dutch often turns a verb into a noun: het + infinitive (het lanceren) or a noun in -ing, which is always a de-word (de lancering, de verbetering).
• The object of the verb becomes a van-phrase: We vergroten de naamsbekendheid. → Het vergroten van de naamsbekendheid is ons doel.
• Nominalisation makes a text compact and impersonal, as in reports and presentations: Na de lancering van de campagne steeg de omzet. = Nadat de campagne was gelanceerd, steeg de omzet.
• Many verbs have their own noun instead of -ing: groeien → de groei, stijgen → de stijging, kiezen → de keuze, verkopen → de verkoop, onderzoeken → het onderzoek. Learn the article with the noun.
• Don't overdo it: a sentence full of nouns quickly becomes heavy. In conversation, the verb is usually better: We willen dat meer mensen ons merk kennen.