In English, you can use action nouns (nouns that come from verbs) to create noun phrases that describe complex situations. These phrases act like nouns in the sentence, but they are also a little like verbs because they describe an action. Here is one example of long noun phrases for an action in English:
The whole phrase Mrs Powell’s repeatedly forgetting her students’ names acts like a noun in the sentence, and the whole phrase could be replaced by a pronoun. For example:
Mark complained about it.But the action noun forgetting is also a little like a verb: it has a subject (Mrs. Powell), an object (her students’ names), and is even described by an adverb (repeatedly).
Though short noun phrases for actions are quite common in English, longer, more complex action noun phrases are found in academic and formal writing. This post is therefore intended for more advanced English learners. For a basic introduction to gerund phrases (the most basic type of action noun phrase), check out our post on using gerunds in English instead.
In this post we’ll talk about how to create two types of long action noun phrases in English: gerund phrases and action noun phrases. Hopefully, reading this post will help raise the level of your English writing!
Let’s get into the construction of complex action noun phrases!
What are the two types of action noun phrases in English?
There are two main ways to form a phrase around a gerund or action noun in English:
Gerund Phrases are formed by starting with a verb phrase (a verb + associated words). You can turn the whole verb phrase into one big gerund by adding -ing to the first verb:
Verb Phrase:
sing lullabies softlyGerund Phrase:
I like singing lullabies softly.Action Noun Phrases are formed around any action noun by adding noun modifiers:
Action Noun:
discussionAction Noun Phrase:
Our long discussion of politics made me tired.
Let’s look at these two possibilities a little more closely.
How to form a gerund phrase from a verb phrase?
To create a gerund phrase from a verb phrase, just create the verb phrase, then put the first verb in that verb phrase into its gerund form.
A verb phrase is a verb plus some associated words like objects, prepositional phrases, adverbs, subordinate clauses, and more. Here are some examples.
| Verb plus... | Verb phrase | Gerund phrase |
|---|---|---|
object | clean the house | cleaning the house |
bring her some flowers | bringing her some flowers | |
prepositional phrase | run in the rain | running in the rain |
go to school for three hours | going to school for three hours | |
adverb | sing beautifully | singing beautifully |
swim fast | swimming fast | |
subordinate clause | say that he is tired | saying that he is tired |
sleep while it is dark | sleeping while it is dark | |
infinitive verb | prefer to come | preferring to come |
gerund phrase | like eating chocolate | liking eating chocolate |
You can also turn a verb phrase with auxiliary verbs into a gerund. When this happens, the auxiliary takes the gerund ending (-ing). For example:
Gerund of a passive verb:
be found → being found
I do not like being found when I am playing hide-and-seek!Gerund of a perfect verb:
have slept → having slept
Having slept 8 hours is a wonderful feeling!
However, we do not do this with all auxiliary verbs:
We do not turn continuous verbs into gerund phrases.
be catching bugs❌ I like being catching bugs.It is also impossible to turn a phrase with a modal auxiliary (could, can, should, might, ...) into a gerund phrase, because modal verbs do not have a gerund form.
- can sleep❌ I like canning sleep.
- might come to visit❌ He suggested mighting come to visit.
So if you want to form a noun phrase about possibility, capability, etc., you will need to choose a phrasing that does not use a modal. For example:
can sleep = be able to sleep
✅ I like being able to sleep.might come to visit = potentially come to visit
✅ He suggested potentially coming to visit for my birthday.
Or you can always just use a subordinate clause instead:
- ✅ I like that I can sleep.✅ He suggested that he might come to visit.
How to form an action noun phrase by adding noun modifiers?
The other way to form an action noun phrase is to form the action noun first and then enhance its meaning by adding the kinds of modifiers you can add to other nouns.
Here are some of the noun modifiers you can add to action nouns:
| Modifier type | With an action noun | With a gerund |
|---|---|---|
definite article | the driver | the singing |
demonstrative adjective | this driver | this singing |
quantity adjective | some drivers | some singing |
possessive adjective | my driver | my singing |
possessive nouns | Maria’s driver | Maria’s singing |
of-phrases | the driver of a truck | the singing of a song |
adjectives | loud dogs | loud singing |
other prepositional phrases | There was a dog on TV. | There was singing on TV. |
purpose infinitives | a dog to walk | singing to do |
... and more! |
Let’s look a little more closely at the sorts of modifiers we use with action nouns.
How to use possessors with action nouns in English?
The possessor of an action can be given using a possessive adjective (e.g. my, her, their), a possessive noun (e.g. Randall’s), or a of-phrase (e.g. of his or of the dog). But this possessor can have a few different meanings, depending on the action you are describing:
When the noun describes an action that usually does not take an object (an “intransitive verb”), the possessor is understood to be the subject of the verb:
- The children’s cryingthe children cry
- Their cryingthey cry
- The crying of childrenthe children cry
- The children’s arrivalthe children arrive
- Their arrivalthey arrive
- The arrival of the childrenthe children arrive
With the noun describes an action that usually does take an object (a “transitive verb”)...
An of-phrase will tell you the object of the verb:
- The teaching of childrensomeone teaches children
- The cleaning of the kitchensomeone cleans the kitchen
- The enforcement of lawssomeone enforces the laws
A possessor noun or possessive adjective will represent the subject of the verb:
- Maria’s teaching of childrenMaria teaches the children
- My cleaning of the kitchenI clean the kitchen
- Their enforcement of laws.they enforce laws
Here are a couple of tricky cases to keep in mind about using possessors with action nouns:
Many verbs in English can be either transitive or intransitive, and so when they are used with only an of-phrase, you will need to use context to help you discover the meaning. For example sing can be transitive or intransitive:
- The singing of angels.The angels sang. → intransitive
- The singing of a lullaby.Someone sang the lullaby. → transitive
When there is only a possessive adjective or possessive noun used to modify a transitive action noun, the meaning depends on the type of action noun you are using:
In modern English, the possessor of a transitive gerund is generally still the subject:
- her teachingshe teaches
- Patrick’s cleaningPatrick cleans
However, the possessor of other kinds of transitive action nouns is usually the object instead:
- her removalsomeone removed her
- Marco's treatmentsomeone treats Marco
Action nouns that end in -er follow slightly different rules because the meaning of these nouns is a little different:
driving = the action "to drive"
driver = one who does the action "to drive"
Because the noun driver stands for both the action and the subject of that action, the possessor is not also the subject. Instead, this can have two meanings:
Mary's driver can mean:
✅ Someone who drives a car with Mary inside it right now or in general.
✅ Someone who Mary employs to drive cars.
Gerunds that come from verb phrases vs. action noun phrases with noun modifiers
Gerunds that come from verb phrases usually involve another noun from the sentence in the action that the gerund represents, but gerunds with noun modifiers usually refer to an action in general. What does that mean?
Let’s compare two examples. There is a difference in the structure of these two gerunds, but there is also a difference in their meaning:
- John loves singing beautifully.Translation: = John loves when John sings beautifully.This has an adverb, so it comes from a verb phrase
- John loves beautiful singing.Translation: = John loves to listen to anyone sing beautifully.This has an adjective, which is a noun modifier.
Do you see the difference?
When the gerund comes from a verb phrase, the subject of the sentence is involved in the action singing beautifully.
When the gerund has noun modifiers, the subject of the sentence is not involved in the action singing.
Here is the same difference when the gerunds are a subjects instead:
- Singing beautifully is always enjoyable.You will be happy when you sing beautifully.
- Beautiful singing is always enjoyable.You will be happy when you listen to beautiful singing.
If a gerund is only one word, and does not have any modifiers, both meanings are possible:
→ John loves when anyone sings (less common)
Summary
In this post we’ve talked about how to form complex action noun phrases in English. Here are the main points to take away from this lesson:
In English, we often use long noun phrases describing actions in formal or academic writing.
There are two main ways to build long action noun phrases:
Create a verb phrase, and replace the first verb with a gerund:
The angel’s singing beautifully about starlight enchanted me.Use noun modifiers to provide subjects, objects, etc. to an action noun or gerund:
The angel’s beautiful singing about starlight enchanted me.
When you use noun modifiers for an action noun, remember these two main points:
If the action is intransitive the possessor will always be the subject of the action:
The children’s cryingIf the action is transitive, an of-phrase gives the object and a possessive noun or possessive adjective gives the subject:
My cleaning of the kitchen
An action noun phrase that is formed from a verb phrase is “open” to involve other nouns in the sentence in the action, but an action noun phrase that uses noun modifiers is “closed,” so the action cannot involve other nouns in the sentence.
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