Noun-Heavy Formal Style

1. Verbal nouns in every role. A -tzea phrase can be the subject, the object or another part of the sentence, so it takes the ending that role needs:

• subject of a transitive verb: Lege berria onartzeak eztabaida sortu du. (Approving the new law has caused debate.)
• with a postposition: Zergak igotzearen aurka agertu dira. (They have come out against raising taxes.)
• linked to a noun with -tzeko: eskaera aurkezteko epea (the deadline for submitting the application)

2. Derived nouns. Suffixes such as -pen and -keta make nouns from verbs: onartu → onarpen (approval), aurkeztu → aurkezpen (presentation), erosi → erosketa (purchase). The thing affected then becomes a genitive: proiektuaren onarpena (the approval of the project).

3. A -tzea noun keeps its verb's cases. The object stays in the absolutive and the doer takes -k, just as with the finite verb: udalak plana onartzea (the council approving the plan). A -pen noun uses the genitive instead: planaren onarpena. Eastern varieties can also put the object of a -tzea noun in the genitive (liburu baten erostea), but Southern standard writing keeps the absolutive.

4. Keep it readable. Style guides warn that chains of nouns joined with -ko and -(r)en make a text abstract and hard to follow. A noun plus an empty verb such as egin, burutu or gauzatu can usually become one verb:

• heavy: Kontratu-luzapena egin dute.
• clear: Kontratua luzatu dute. (They have extended the contract.)

A complement that belongs to a verb also cannot hang on a noun. Ministroaren bisita herrira does not work. Keep the verb, ministroak herrira egindako bisita (the visit the minister made to the town), or link the place to the noun with -ko: ministroaren herrirako bisita. See long noun phrases.

Tip: When a sentence feels heavy, ask who does what, and put the action back into a verb. This helps you read legal and administrative texts and write clear formal Basque.