Nouns: forming nouns from other words

We often form nouns from other parts of speech, most commonly from a verb or an adjective. We can then use the noun phrase instead of the verb or adjective to create a more formal style. We call this nominalisation:

After 1900 there was agrowthin trade with Europe.(less formal:After 1900 trade with Europe grew.)

Theclosureof the Meteorcorp factory caused 200 workers to lose their jobs.(less formal:Meteorcorp closed the factory and 200 workers lost their jobs.)

Nominalisation is common in writing, especially formal writing.