What Is A Buried Verb? | Clear Writing Rules

What Is A Buried Verb? Basic Definition

Many writers ask themselves, “what is a buried verb?” without realizing they use one several times a page. A buried verb appears when a strong action word turns into a noun, often followed by a bland helper verb. The result feels longer, heavier, and harder to read than it needs to be.

Grammar experts treat buried verbs as a form of nominalization, a noun created from a verb. Bryan Garner describes this type of wording as a problem because the action hides inside a longer phrase instead of sitting in the main verb slot of the sentence.

Buried Verb Phrase	Hidden Core Verb	Cleaner Sentence
made a decision about	decide	She decided on the topic.
gave a description of	describe	They described the plan.
reached an agreement on	agree	The teams agreed on a price.
performed an analysis of	analyze	The scientist analyzed the data.
conducted an investigation into	investigate	The agency investigated the claim.
made an accusation against	accuse	The witness accused the suspect.
provided an explanation for	explain	The teacher explained the rule.
gave assistance to	assist	The tutor assisted the group.

Buried Verb In Writing: Why It Hurts Clarity

A sentence with a buried verb often needs extra helper verbs, prepositions, and articles. All those short words push the real action away from the subject and blur who does what. Readers can still understand the point, yet they must work harder line by line.

Writing centers point out that nominalizations and buried verbs often lengthen sentences and hide the subject that takes the action. A short verb in the center of the sentence usually gives a clearer, more direct path for the reader.

Nominalizations And Buried Verbs

The term nominalization refers to a verb that turns into a noun, often with endings such as -ion, -ment, -ance, or -ing. When writers build long phrases around those nouns, they create buried verbs. The main verb slot then fills with a weaker word like make, give, have, or perform.

Resources such as the Purdue OWL page on nominalizations list many of these pairs. The pattern repeats across subjects: law, science, business, and academic writing all turn lean action words into bulky abstract nouns.

Buried Verb Questions From Students

Students often hear that buried verbs weaken essays yet they struggle to find them. The problem feels slippery because the sentence still uses a verb form. The issue is not grammar error but style. Readers want to see the main action in one clear verb rather than tucked inside a long noun phrase.

How To Spot A Buried Verb In Your Sentences

Spotting buried verbs gets easier once you train your eye for common hints. The goal is not to remove every nominalization, since some serve a clear purpose. Instead, look for spots where a shorter, more direct verb gives the same meaning with fewer words.

A quick three step test can help. First, underline every main verb in a paragraph. Next, circle long nouns that feel abstract. Then ask whether a single, shorter verb could replace each noun phrase. When the answer is yes and the change keeps the meaning, you have found a buried verb that deserves a cleaner, livelier version.

Look For Nouns Built From Verbs

One reliable clue sits in the word ending. Nominalizations often use endings such as -tion, -sion, -ment, -ance, -ence, -al, or -ing. When a sentence piles nouns with those endings near the center, the real action may be hiding in plain sight.

Take the sentence “The committee made a recommendation about the policy.” The word recommendation hides the verb recommend. A tighter line like “The committee recommended the policy” keeps the same meaning while cutting spare words.

Watch For Verb Phrases Built Around Heavy Nouns

Another clue shows up when a short verb such as make, give, have, or hold stands next to a long abstract noun. In that pattern, the noun often carries the real action while the short verb adds almost no meaning. Replacing the pair with a single active verb sharpens the sentence right away.

Take this line: “The lawyer made an argument against the claim.” A cleaner version reads, “The lawyer argued against the claim.” The edit shortens the line and places the action at the center, so the sentence feels stronger without changing the idea.

Notice Prepositional Chains After Noun Phrases

Buried verbs also hide inside strings of prepositional phrases. Long chains with words such as of, to, for, or about often follow the nominalized noun. When you see two or three of these in a row, check whether a simpler verb could replace the whole group.

How To Rewrite Sentences That Contain Buried Verbs

Once you can spot a buried verb, the next step is to reshape the sentence. Most fixes follow a simple pattern: turn the hidden noun back into its original verb, then place that verb near the subject. This edit keeps the meaning yet cuts clutter.

Turn The Noun Back Into A Verb

Start by underlining the abstract noun that holds the action. Then write its base verb beside the sentence. Replace the noun phrase and its helper verb with that base verb, and read the line out loud. If the new version sounds clear and direct, you have freed the buried verb.

Many writing guides on nominalization, such as resources from university writing centers, recommend this method because it improves clarity and keeps subjects close to their actions.

Move The Real Actor Into Subject Position

Buried verbs often push the real actor into a phrase starting with of, by, or from. To fix this, move that actor into the subject slot. Then use the restored verb as the main action. The sentence usually shrinks and the meaning stands out.

“The punishment of the student was the result of a violation of the rule” becomes “The teacher punished the student for breaking the rule.” The edit keeps the same idea but removes extra nouns and prepositions that slowed the line.

Keep Nominalizations When They Name Real Things

Not every noun built from a verb counts as a problem. Sometimes the noun names an idea you truly need, such as legislation, measurement, or translation. If the noun functions as a compact label rather than part of a clumsy phrase, you can keep it.

A helpful question is, “Do I need this noun as a subject or object, or can I express the idea with a direct verb instead?” If the verb version feels natural and shorter, that choice usually works better.

Buried Verb In Writing: Simple Fixes That Work

Writers in law, science, and business face strong pressure to sound formal. That pressure often nudges them toward long noun phrases and buried verbs. Clear writing still fits professional settings, though, and many style guides urge writers to favor strong verbs over heavy nominalizations.

For a deeper look at how nominalizations affect clarity, the article on nominalizations from the Florida State University College of Law writing program explains how noun-heavy style can hide both the actor and the action in legal prose.

Original Sentence	Edited Sentence	Main Change
The team conducted an analysis of the results.	The team analyzed the results.	Replaced noun phrase with verb.
The manager made a recommendation about staffing.	The manager recommended new staff.	Turned recommendation into recommended.
The company reached a conclusion on the budget.	The company concluded the budget review.	Used concluded as the main verb.
The engineer performed a review of the design.	The engineer reviewed the design.	Removed extra helper verb.
The committee held a discussion about timelines.	The committee discussed timelines.	Changed discussion to discussed.
The teacher gave an explanation of the formula.	The teacher explained the formula.	Replaced explanation with explained.
The agency carried out an investigation into fraud.	The agency investigated fraud.	Shortened the phrase and freed the verb.

Practice: Rewrite Sentences With Buried Verbs

To build skill with buried verbs, set aside a short section of your own writing. Mark every long noun that ends with -tion, -ment, -ance, or similar endings. Then try to rewrite each sentence with a single active verb in the center. Read both versions aloud and notice which lines carry energy and which ones drag.

You can repeat the same exercise with published material. News articles, reports, and academic papers often contain plenty of nominalizations. Rewrite a few lines each day, and you will start to notice buried verbs as soon as you see them.

Quick Checklist For Stronger Verbs

Before you finish a draft, run through a short checklist geared toward buried verbs. The list below works for essays, reports, and even emails. With practice, it fits into your normal revision process.

• Scan for nouns with endings such as -tion, -ment, -ance, -ence, -al, and -ing.
• Check whether each one hides a simpler verb that would sound cleaner in context.
• Watch for helper verbs such as make, give, have, hold, and perform near those nouns.
• Look at long phrases packed with of, to, for, or about and test whether a verb could replace them.
• Keep nominalizations that name real concepts in your field and remove ones that only repeat the same idea in a longer form.
• Read key paragraphs out loud and notice where your breath runs short or the line feels heavy; buried verbs often sit near those spots.

As you keep revising with this checklist, the question “what is a buried verb?” turns from a puzzle into a simple editing habit. You start to spot the pattern faster, free the hidden verbs, and give readers direct sentences that carry your point with ease.