When you read a Spanish newspaper, listen to a formal presentation, or open an academic text, you immediately notice something: verbs are replaced by nouns. Where a casual speaker says cuando empezamos a investigar ("when we started to investigate"), a formal writer says al inicio de la investigación ("at the start of the investigation"). Where casual speech uses los que investigan ("those who investigate"), formal writing uses los investigadores ("the investigators"). This process — turning verbs into nouns — is called deverbal nominalization, and it is the single most important feature of formal and academic register in Spanish.
Understanding how Spanish systematically creates nouns from verbs will dramatically improve your reading comprehension of formal texts and give you the tools to produce polished written Spanish yourself. The good news: the patterns are highly regular, and many of them have close English cognates.
-Ción / -sión: action and result
This is the most productive deverbal suffix in Spanish. It creates nouns that express either the action of doing something or the result of having done it.
La investigación duró tres años.
The investigation lasted three years. (investigar → investigación)
La decisión fue difícil pero necesaria.
The decision was difficult but necessary. (decidir → decisión)
La organización del evento estuvo impecable.
The organization of the event was impeccable. (organizar → organización)
La construcción del puente comenzó en marzo.
The construction of the bridge began in March. (construir → construcción)
The distribution follows phonological patterns:
- Verbs ending in -ar typically form -ación: investigar → investigación, organizar → organización, comunicar → comunicación
- Verbs ending in -er/-ir often form -ción or -sión: decidir → decisión, producir → producción, admitir → admisión
-Miento: process and ongoing activity
-Miento creates nouns that emphasize the process of an action — its unfolding over time — rather than the punctual event or result. It attaches most productively to -er and -ir verbs, though some -ar verbs also use it.
El crecimiento económico superó las expectativas.
Economic growth exceeded expectations. (crecer → crecimiento)
El pensamiento crítico es una habilidad esencial.
Critical thinking is an essential skill. (pensar → pensamiento)
El conocimiento de idiomas abre muchas puertas.
Knowledge of languages opens many doors. (conocer → conocimiento)
El comportamiento de los estudiantes fue ejemplar.
The students' behavior was exemplary. (comportar → comportamiento)
El tratamiento de la enfermedad requiere paciencia.
The treatment of the illness requires patience. (tratar → tratamiento)
-Aje: collective or technical action
-Aje creates nouns that often describe a collective action, a process viewed as a whole, or a technical operation. Many -aje words have entered the language through French.
El aterrizaje fue perfecto a pesar del viento.
The landing was perfect despite the wind. (aterrizar → aterrizaje)
El aprendizaje de un idioma requiere práctica constante.
Language learning requires constant practice. (aprender → aprendizaje)
El rodaje de la película se realizó en Colombia.
The filming of the movie took place in Colombia. (rodar → rodaje)
El almacenaje de datos es cada vez más barato.
Data storage is getting cheaper and cheaper. (almacenar → almacenaje)
El reciclaje es responsabilidad de todos.
Recycling is everyone's responsibility. (reciclar → reciclaje)
-Ura: result or quality
-Ura creates nouns that describe the result of an action or the quality associated with it. Many -ura nouns feel more concrete or tangible than -ción nouns.
La lectura de este libro cambió mi perspectiva.
Reading this book changed my perspective. (leer → lectura)
La ruptura del contrato tendrá consecuencias legales.
The breach of contract will have legal consequences. (romper → ruptura)
La escritura de la novela le tomó cinco años.
Writing the novel took her five years. (escribir → escritura)
La apertura del nuevo hospital está prevista para julio.
The opening of the new hospital is planned for July. (abrir → apertura)
-Ancia / -encia: state or quality
These suffixes create nouns that describe an ongoing state or quality. They are extremely common in formal and academic vocabulary.
La permanencia en el país requiere una visa válida.
Staying in the country requires a valid visa. (permanecer → permanencia)
La tolerancia es un valor fundamental.
Tolerance is a fundamental value. (tolerar → tolerancia)
La dependencia del petróleo es un problema global.
Dependence on oil is a global problem. (depender → dependencia)
La influencia de las redes sociales es innegable.
The influence of social media is undeniable. (influir → influencia)
-Ado / -ido: result or product
Past participle forms frequently function as nouns denoting the result or product of an action:
El resultado fue sorprendente.
The result was surprising. (resultar → resultado)
El contenido del informe es confidencial.
The content of the report is confidential. (contener → contenido)
El comunicado oficial fue publicado esta mañana.
The official statement was published this morning. (comunicar → comunicado)
El acuerdo se firmó en presencia de ambas partes.
The agreement was signed in the presence of both parties. (acordar → acuerdo)
-Dor / -dora: agent
-Dor/-dora creates nouns that name the person or thing that performs an action. These forms are productive and widely used:
Los investigadores publicaron sus hallazgos.
The researchers published their findings. (investigar → investigador)
La computadora necesita una actualización.
The computer needs an update. (computar → computadora)
Los consumidores tienen derecho a información clara.
Consumers have the right to clear information. (consumir → consumidor)
La entrenadora del equipo anunció su retiro.
The team's coach announced her retirement. (entrenar → entrenadora)
When competing forms exist
For many verbs, multiple nominalization patterns are theoretically possible, but only one (or two) have actually become established. Spanish speakers do not freely create new nominalizations — they use the ones that already exist in the lexicon.
| Verb | Established form | Non-existent form | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| investigar | investigación | *investigamiento | -ción is standard for -ar verbs |
| crecer | crecimiento | *crecición | -miento is standard for this verb |
| conocer | conocimiento | *conocición | -miento is the established form |
| leer | lectura | *leimiento, *lección (different meaning) | -ura is the form for this root |
| aterrizar | aterrizaje | *aterrización | -aje is standard for this type of action |
When in doubt about which nominalization exists for a given verb, consult a dictionary. Do not invent new forms by analogy — they will sound wrong to native speakers.
Some verbs do have two nominalized forms with different meanings:
La fundación de la ciudad (the founding) vs. la fundación benéfica (the foundation/charity)
Same root, same suffix, different senses.
El movimiento social (the movement — process) vs. la moción de censura (the motion — formal proposal)
Same verb (mover), different suffixes, different meanings.
Converting casual to formal: practical examples
The real power of nominalization is in register shifting. Here are before-and-after examples showing how verb-heavy casual sentences become noun-heavy formal ones:
| Casual (verb-based) | Formal (noun-based) |
|---|---|
| Cuando empezamos a investigar... | Al inicio de la investigación... |
| Los que investigan dicen que... | Los investigadores afirman que... |
| Después de que decidimos... | Tras la decisión de... |
| Porque crecimos mucho... | Debido al crecimiento... |
| Para que los alumnos aprendan... | Para el aprendizaje de los alumnos... |
| Cuando lo tratamos... | Durante el tratamiento... |
Common mistakes
Inventing nominalizations that do not exist:
El entendimiento fue mutuo.
Correct — entendimiento exists. But *la entendición does not.
Not every verb can take every suffix. Use established forms only. If you are unsure, check a dictionary.
Overusing nominalizations in casual speech:
Tras la realización de la cena, procedimos a la limpieza de la cocina.
Absurdly formal for: Después de cenar, limpiamos la cocina.
Nominalization belongs in formal writing. In conversation, it sounds bureaucratic and stilted.
Confusing the action and the agent:
La investigación publicó los resultados.
Incorrect. The investigation didn't publish — the investigators did: Los investigadores publicaron los resultados.
-Ción nouns are actions or results, not agents. Use -dor/-dora for the person or entity that acts.
Forgetting gender and agreement:
All -ción/-sión nouns are feminine: la investigación, la decisión. All -miento nouns are masculine: el crecimiento, el pensamiento. Getting the gender wrong is a basic error that undermines the formal register you are trying to achieve.
Related pages
For general nominalization concepts, see Nominalization. For abstract nouns, see Abstract Nouns. For other noun-forming suffixes, see Noun Suffixes. For academic register conventions, see Academic Register.
Related Topics
- NominalizationB2 — Turning adjectives, verbs, and other words into nouns
- Abstract Noun SuffixesB1 — Common suffixes that form abstract nouns from adjectives and verbs
- Academic and Formal Written RegisterC1 — The linguistic features of academic Spanish — impersonal constructions, nominalization, hedging, and the rhetoric of scholarly writing.
- Noun-Forming SuffixesB1 — Build Spanish nouns from verbs and adjectives using the most productive noun suffixes, and learn the gender patterns each one follows.