Nominalization in Dutch

In Brief

Dutch nominalization turns an action or quality into a noun or noun phrase: onderzoeken “to investigate” becomes het onderzoeken “investigating” or het onderzoek “the investigation,” while mogelijk “possible” becomes mogelijkheid “possibility.” It is especially common in formal and academic Dutch, but too many nominalizations can make a sentence heavy and hide who is acting.

Overview

A nominalization is a noun, or a phrase functioning like a noun, that expresses an action, process, state, person, or quality. Dutch can create one grammatically by placing het before an infinitive (the basic verb form), or lexically by forming a new noun with an ending such as -ing or -heid. Compare De commissie onderzoekt de klacht (“The committee investigates the complaint”) with het onderzoeken van de klacht (“the investigating of the complaint”) and het onderzoek naar de klacht (“the investigation into the complaint”).

At C1, nominalization matters less as a word-building exercise than as a writing choice. It lets you discuss an action as an abstract topic, package a complex idea into one phrase, or adopt the compact style of reports, policies, and academic texts. English does this too—decide → decision, necessary → necessity, and reading—but the Dutch construction with het + infinitive is particularly productive.

A noun-heavy style is not automatically better. Clear Dutch often prefers a finite clause (a clause with a verb marked for tense and person) when the actor or sequence of events matters. Advanced control means being able both to nominalize and to turn an unnecessarily abstract noun phrase back into a direct verb clause.

How It Works

The productive pattern: het + infinitive

Almost any Dutch infinitive can be used as a verbal noun: a verb form functioning as a noun. It takes the neuter article het and is written as a separate word.

Verb or phrase	Nominalized form	Meaning
lezen	het lezen	reading / the act of reading
samenwerken	het samenwerken	working together / collaboration
voortbestaan	het voortbestaan	continued existence / survival
gegevens zorgvuldig bewaren	het zorgvuldig bewaren van gegevens	carefully storing data
niet reageren	het niet reageren	not responding / the failure to respond

The phrase can retain verbal details. It can contain an adverb such as zorgvuldig, a negation such as niet, and other complements. A direct object is commonly introduced with van once the action has been packaged as a noun phrase:

• De medewerker controleert de aanvraag. — “The employee checks the application.”
• het controleren van de aanvraag — “checking the application”

The verbal noun itself does not normally have a plural. You can say het lezen van drie rapporten, but not ordinarily use lezens to mean several acts of reading. If you need a countable result or event, a lexical noun is often better: drie controles, twee aanvragen, verschillende onderzoeken.

After a preposition, the construction often appears without an article. This is particularly common with bij, na, voor, door, and zonder:

• Bij het lezen van dit document valt één detail op. — “When reading this document, one detail stands out.”
• Na ondertekening ontvangt u een kopie. — “After signing, you will receive a copy.”
• Door regelmatig te oefenen vergroot u uw woordenschat. — “By practising regularly, you increase your vocabulary.”

These patterns are related, but not identical. Bij het lezen contains an explicit nominalized infinitive; na ondertekening uses an established noun; door te oefenen is an infinitive clause with te, not het + infinitive.

Established nouns derived from verbs

Dutch also has deverbal nouns (nouns historically or transparently formed from verbs). Their form, article, plural, and preferred preposition must often be learned with the word.

Pattern	Verb	Noun	Typical meaning
-ing	behandelen	de behandeling	treatment / handling
-ing	ontwikkelen	de ontwikkeling	development
-ing	beslissen	de beslissing	decision
vowel or stem change	onderzoeken	het onderzoek	investigation / research
shorter established form	aanvragen	de aanvraag	application / request
compound noun	voortbestaan	het voortbestaan	continued existence

The ending -ing is highly visible and nouns ending in it are normally de words. Its pronunciation is the Dutch -ing, not the English ending in working. However, you cannot freely attach -ing to every verb and expect an idiomatic noun. Dictionaries and authentic usage remain essential: Dutch normally uses onderzoek, not an invented form such as onderzoeking.

A lexical noun may refer to the process, its result, or both. Vertaling can mean the activity of translation in context, but it also means a completed translation. By contrast, het vertalen focuses strongly on the activity itself.

Nouns derived from adjectives

The main pattern for qualities and states is adjective + -heid. These are usually de words, and their regular plural ends in -heden.

Adjective	Noun	English
mogelijk	de mogelijkheid	possibility
duidelijk	de duidelijkheid	clarity
noodzakelijk	de noodzakelijkheid	necessity
veilig	de veiligheid	safety
gelijk	de gelijkheid	equality

Although a form may be grammatically possible, it is not always the most natural choice. De noodzaak van maatregelen is often more idiomatic and concise than de noodzakelijkheid van maatregelen. Likewise, context may favor belang over belangrijkheid. Word formation gives you a possible noun; usage determines whether it is the noun Dutch speakers normally choose.

Other endings occur in international or established vocabulary:

Ending	Examples	General area
-tie / -atie / -itie	de organisatie, de productie, de definitie	processes, results, concepts
-isme	het realisme, het kapitalisme	movements, systems, doctrines
-te	de hoogte, de breedte, de ziekte	dimensions, states, qualities
-nis	de kennis, de betekenis	states, results, concepts

These are vocabulary patterns rather than mechanical rules. For example, not every adjective forms a noun in -te, and words in -nis do not all have the same gender. Learn the article with each noun.

Rebuilding the sentence around a noun

Nominalization changes more than one word. The participants in the action often become prepositional phrases:

Verb clause	Nominalized phrase
De directie voert het beleid uit.	de uitvoering van het beleid door de directie
De onderzoekers analyseren de gegevens.	de analyse van de gegevens door de onderzoekers
De organisatie blijft voortbestaan.	het voortbestaan van de organisatie

The thing affected commonly follows van. The actor can be expressed with door, but is often omitted if it is obvious or unimportant. With established nouns, the correct relation may require another preposition: onderzoek naar fraude, een aanvraag voor subsidie, deelname aan het programma. Do not assume that van works after every noun.

Examples in Context

Dutch	English	Note
De behandeling van dit onderwerp vraagt meer tijd.	The treatment of this topic requires more time.	Established -ing noun
Het voortbestaan van de organisatie is onzeker.	The continued existence of the organization is uncertain.	het + infinitive has become a familiar compound form
De noodzakelijkheid van maatregelen werd uitvoerig besproken.	The necessity of measures was discussed at length.	Correct, formal, and abstract
Bij het lezen van dit document valt de inconsistente terminologie op.	When reading this document, the inconsistent terminology stands out.	bij het + infinitive
Het zorgvuldig bewaren van persoonsgegevens is wettelijk verplicht.	The careful storage of personal data is legally required.	The adverb remains inside the verbal noun phrase
Zijn plotselinge vertrek leidde tot veel vragen.	His sudden departure led to many questions.	Lexical noun derived from vertrekken
De invoering van het systeem is met een maand uitgesteld.	The introduction of the system has been postponed by a month.	Process noun in administrative language
Door regelmatig te overleggen voorkomen de teams dubbel werk.	By consulting regularly, the teams avoid duplicate work.	door te + infinitive, not het + infinitive
Na goedkeuring van de begroting kan het project beginnen.	After approval of the budget, the project can begin.	Compact formal time expression
Het niet naleven van de regels kan tot uitsluiting leiden.	Failure to comply with the rules can lead to exclusion.	Negated verbal noun
De duidelijkheid van de instructies liet te wensen over.	The clarity of the instructions left much to be desired.	Adjective + -heid
De onderzoekers pleiten voor een grondige analyse van de resultaten.	The researchers argue for a thorough analysis of the results.	International noun with a fixed complement
De aanvraag voor subsidie moet vóór 1 september binnen zijn.	The grant application must be received before 1 September.	Learn aanvraag voor as a unit
Snelle besluitvorming is in een crisis van groot belang.	Rapid decision-making is of great importance in a crisis.	Compound nominalization common in professional Dutch

Common Mistakes

Treating every infinitive like an English gerund

• Wrong: Lezen van het rapport kostte twee uur.
• Right: Het lezen van het rapport kostte twee uur.
• Why: When an infinitive is the explicit subject and denotes the activity, Dutch normally uses het. After certain prepositions, a different fixed pattern may apply.

Inventing an -ing noun

• Wrong: De onderzoeking van de klacht duurde lang.
• Right: Het onderzoek naar de klacht duurde lang.
• Why: Dutch word formation is not fully predictable. The established noun here is het onderzoek, and its topic is commonly introduced by naar.

Choosing the article from the original verb

• Wrong: Het behandeling van de aanvraag is vertraagd.
• Right: De behandeling van de aanvraag is vertraagd.
• Why: Het + infinitive always uses het, but a derived noun has its own gender. Nouns in -ing are normally de words.

Using van for every relationship

• Wrong: De deelname van het programma nam toe.
• Right: De deelname aan het programma nam toe.
• Why: Established nouns select their own prepositions. Learn combinations such as deelname aan, behoefte aan, onderzoek naar, and aanvraag voor.

Hiding the actor when it matters

• Unclear: Na de afwijzing van het voorstel ontstond onrust.
• Clearer: Nadat de raad het voorstel had afgewezen, ontstond onrust.
• Why: De afwijzing van het voorstel tells us what was rejected, not necessarily who rejected it. A verb clause is clearer when responsibility matters.

Making the sentence needlessly abstract

• Heavy: De uitvoering van een evaluatie van het beleid vond plaats door de commissie.
• Better: De commissie evalueerde het beleid.
• Why: Several nominalizations plus weak verbs such as plaatsvinden can bury a simple action. Prefer the direct clause unless the process itself is your topic.

Usage Notes

Nominalizations are frequent in regulations, institutional correspondence, research, news reporting, and business writing. They help writers classify processes and refer back to them: De minister kondigde een hervorming aan. De uitvoering ervan begint volgend jaar. Here de uitvoering gives the next sentence a compact topic.

The construction can also make a statement impersonal. Bij overtreding volgt een boete does not identify an actor and sounds like a general rule. That can be useful in instructions, but it may also obscure responsibility. In critical reading, ask: who performs the action hidden inside besluitvorming, uitvoering, or controle?

Spoken Dutch certainly uses nouns such as beslissing, mogelijkheid, and afspraak. What sounds markedly formal is not any single nominalization, but a high concentration of abstract nouns, long van chains, and support verbs such as plaatsvinden, uitvoeren, or verrichten. Compare formal Er zal een beoordeling van uw aanvraag plaatsvinden with direct We beoordelen uw aanvraag.

English can mislead in two directions. English -ing often corresponds to Dutch het + infinitive (Reading helps → Het lezen helpt), but sometimes Dutch prefers a lexical noun (training, vergadering, betaling). Conversely, an English noun-heavy sentence may sound better in Dutch as a clause. Translate the function, not just the suffix.

Beyond the Basics: Style and Meaning

Activity, event, or result

Different nominalizations of the same verb can present different viewpoints:

• het bouwen van de brug foregrounds the activity;
• de bouw van de brug presents the project or process as an established concept;
• het bouwwerk refers to the resulting structure.

The distinction is not a universal formula, but it is a useful question: are you naming what people do, the organized process, or the result? Choosing the noun changes what readers treat as the center of the sentence.

Nominalized adjectives

Dutch adjectives can also function as nouns. Het + inflected adjective can refer to an abstract quality: het goede (“the good”), het onbekende (“the unknown”), het belangrijkste (“the most important thing”). With de, an adjective can refer to a person identified by a property: de verdachte (“the suspect”), de werkende (“the working person/worker”). The ending -e is part of this pattern.

After indefinite words such as iets, niets, veel, and weinig, a nominalized adjective commonly has -s: iets nieuws (“something new”), niets bijzonders (“nothing special”), veel goeds (“much that is good”). This is a separate but related way of letting a quality stand as a thing.

Information density and van chains

A nominalized phrase can contain another nominalized phrase: de beoordeling van de uitvoering van het beleid. This is grammatically possible, but readers must unpack several relationships. Revise long chains by restoring a verb or splitting the sentence: De commissie beoordeelt hoe het beleid wordt uitgevoerd. The revised version explicitly shows both actions.

Nominalization is therefore a tool for controlling information structure—how a sentence presents old and new information. Use a noun phrase when a process is already known and should become the next topic. Use a verb clause when you want movement, chronology, or a visible actor.

Practice Tips

1. Transform sentences in both directions. Rewrite De commissie beoordeelt de aanvraag as de beoordeling van de aanvraag door de commissie, then turn it back into a clause. Notice what becomes less or more explicit.
2. Build nouns with their full pattern. Record de deelname aan, het onderzoek naar, and de behoefte aan, not just deelname, onderzoek, and behoefte. Include the article and plural too.
3. Edit a formal paragraph for verbs. Underline every noun in -ing, -heid, or -tie and every het + infinitive phrase. Keep the ones that name the real topic; replace those that merely hide a straightforward action.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Written Dutch — provides the broader C1 framework for choosing formal vocabulary, sentence structure, and register.