Verbal vs nominal style

Level 5

Use an action verb where it makes the sentence clearer: vi beslutade instead of vi fattade ett beslut. Keep a noun when naming the decision itself matters.

How It Works

In Swedish, texts can favor different balances of verbs and nouns: with a verbal style or a nominal style. The choice between them significantly affects the tone and clarity of your text.

Verbal Style (Verbalstil)
This style favors verbs, both finite and nonfinite, for expressing actions. It answers the question "Who does what?".

  • Potential benefit: The action can be easier to identify; clarity still depends on context and wording.
  • Structure: Often uses active voice with a clear subject, and connects ideas using subordinate clauses (e.g., with att, när, eftersom).
  • Common in: Everyday speech, fiction, journalism, and modern clear communication (klarspråk).

Nominal Style (Nominalstil)
This style often packages actions or properties into nouns, with endings such as -ning, -tion, or -het. The main verb in the sentence is often a simple one like ske, göra, or vara.

Comparison:
Let's see how to transform a nominal sentence into a verbal one.

Nominal: Beslut om nedläggning av fabriken fattades under mötet.
(A decision about the closure of the factory was made during the meeting.)

Verbal: Under mötet beslutade de att lägga ner fabriken.
(During the meeting, they decided to close the factory.)

To convert from nominal to verbal, you identify the action noun (e.g., beslut) and turn it into a verb (besluta). Then, state the actor if it is known. De is clear only when its referent is already identifiable; do not invent an actor that the original text does not establish. This shift often makes the text more active and easier to understand.

Style Is a Choice, Not an Error
Jag planerar att städa lägenheten och köpa mat i helgen is a direct way to describe weekend plans. A corresponding noun-heavy formulation is not ungrammatical merely because it sounds formal. Likewise, orsakerna undersöks is verbal but passive. Replacing an action noun does not require changing the voice, and plain language involves organization, vocabulary, and reader needs as well as sentence structure.

Examples (4)

  1. Nominal: En undersökning av orsakerna kommer att genomföras. Verbal: Man kommer att undersöka orsakerna.

    Nominal: An investigation of the causes will be carried out. Verbal: They/one will investigate the causes.

    The action noun 'undersökning' (investigation) is replaced by the verb 'undersöka' (to investigate), making the sentence more direct. Both versions are grammatical. The verbal version introduces an actor; that interpretation needs to be supported by context, rather than assumed from the nominal sentence alone.

  2. Nominal: Företagets målsättning är en ökning av exporten. Verbal: Företaget har som mål att öka exporten.

    Nominal: The company's goal is an increase of the export. Verbal: The company has the goal to increase the export.

    Here, the noun 'ökning' (increase) is turned into an infinitive verb phrase 'att öka' (to increase), which is a common feature of verbal style.

  3. Nominal: Efter ankomsten till hotellet gjordes en anmälan i receptionen. Verbal: Efter att de hade anlänt till hotellet anmälde de sig i receptionen.

    Nominal: After the arrival at the hotel, a registration was made at the reception. Verbal: After they had arrived at the hotel, they registered at the reception.

    The nominal phrase 'Efter ankomsten' (After the arrival) is expanded into a full subordinate clause 'Efter att de hade anlänt' (After they had arrived), clarifying who performed the action. Both versions are grammatical. The verbal version introduces an actor; that interpretation needs to be supported by context, rather than assumed from the nominal sentence alone.

  4. Nominal: En analys av texten visar flera svagheter. Verbal: När man analyserar texten hittar man flera svagheter.

    Nominal: An analysis of the text shows several weaknesses. Verbal: When one analyzes the text, one finds several weaknesses.

    The subject of the nominal sentence is 'En analys' (An analysis). In the verbal version, a human agent 'man' (one) is introduced to perform the action 'analyserar' (analyzes). Both versions are grammatical. The verbal version introduces an actor; that interpretation needs to be supported by context, rather than assumed from the nominal sentence alone.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Verbal vs nominal styleLevel 5

Learn This First

Verbal style is the practice of using verbs to express actions rather than abstract nouns (nominal style). To learn this, you need to be able to identify action-based nouns (often ending in -ning or -het) and have the conjugation skills to turn those concepts back into active, natural-sounding verb phrases.