A study of the english noun phrase with examples write a. Noun phrases noun phrases consist of nouns and all their modifiers. A noun phrase is any word or group of words based on a noun or pronoun without a verb. On the basis of attested examples, it is argued that. English noun phrases simple explanations and examples. An example of a nounnoun phrase is resource availability. The group may have modifying words before the noun and modifying prepositional phrases or restrictive, defining relative. Definition a noun phrase is a group of words that does the work of a noun. A number of different grammatical structures can be used for doing this. A noun phrase includes a nouna person, place, or thingand the modifiers which distinguish it. Read on to take a closer look at the building of these phrases and nouns, and explore noun phrases in action. Philpot busy pruning her rose bushes certain phrases have specific names based on the type of word that begins or governs the word group.
It stands for the name of a particular person or place. The function of a phrase depends upon its construction and place in a sentence. Acting as a noun a noun clause is a type of subordinate clause. Phrase structure a phrase is a syntactic unit headed by a lexical category such as noun, adjective, adverb, verb, or preposition. The genitive case in english is commonly referred to as the possessive case. A noun clause will always consist of a subject, which can also act as an object or a complement, and a verb. This pronoun can be a subject pronoun or an indefinite pronoun.
A noun phrase is a group of words that work together to name and describe a person, place, thing, or idea. This does not have any connection to whether it is a phrase or a sentence. You can find the noun dogin a sentence, for example, but you dont know which canine the writer means until you consider the entire noun phrase. Notice that grammatically, we use a complex noun phrase like a.
The wicked man loves getting poor people into trouble. If that noun is replaced by a verb, it will then become a verb phrase and adjective and adverb phrase using an adjective and an adverb as the head of respective phrases. A noun phrase is a unified group of words that has a noun as a head word. The head can also determine the internal grammar of the phrase.
The basic difference between a clause and a phrase is that a clause must have a finite verb and a phrase must not. In a noun phrase, the modifiers can come before or after the noun. Noun phrases english grammar today cambridge dictionary. Types of phrases noun phrase, verb phrase, gerund phrase. These examples do seems to constitute genuine cases of proper nouns heading. The simplest noun phrase consists of an article and a head. A noun phrase, or nominal phrase, is a phrase that has a noun or indefinite pronoun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Pdf the complex noun phrase in advanced students writing. Phrases that typically include the verb be create your account to take this quiz. Compound nouns are words for people, animals, places, things, or ideas, made up of two or more words. Margaret cargill and patrick oconnor this kind of noun phrase can cause problems for eal english as an additional language writers, in our experience. A noun phrase is a group of words that does the work of a noun. Additional noun phrases examples the noun phrase is. Noun phrases that have the determiner a attached to them.
The participial phrase a participial phrase begins with a past or present participle and is fol lowed by its objects and modifiers. T he n oun p hr as e recognize a noun phrase when you see one. Verb phrases are made up of verbs and all their modifiers. Your sister is a phrase a group of words without a finite verb, and it functions as a noun in the sentence. From the examples given above, it can be deduced that a simple noun phrase can consist of just one word, which is normally a noun, although pronouns can. Some noun clauses begin with words such as that, what, why, or other words that.
Jan 17, 2016 any phrase that has a noun or indefinite pronoun as its head is known to be a noun phrase generally abbreviated as np. These are often referred to as open or spaced compound nouns. Noun phrases are groups of two or more words within a sentence that function grammatically as nouns. A phrase can act as a noun, an adjective, a preposition or an adverb. Np vp adjp advp pp phrase structure rules aer genveaerit. A noun phrase can be a single wordjust the noun or more than one word. When we look at the structure of writing, we treat a noun phrase the same way we treat a common noun. Definition and examples of the genitive case in english. The more you read and write, the more compound noun examples youll encounter.
Nouns english grammar noun with definition nouns and. Examples from different languages are given in the transcription of the. The group of words to go home is therefore a noun phrase. These examples show that the quantifying auxiliaries have a disambiguating function in combination with polysemous nouns. The english noun phrase in its sentential aspect vinartus.
Definition, different types with useful examples 7. Indefinite noun phrases in english, and many other languages, a commonnounphrase may be prefixed by an indefinite article, the resulting phrase being what we shall call an indefinite noun phrase. A phrase usually is always present within a clause, but a phrase cannot have a clause in it. The noun is the name of a place, a person or thing. Noun phrasea noun and any words in the sentence that modify it. A phrase, therefore, is a group of words which has no finite verb in it and acts to complete the sentence for making it meaningful. Pdf on jan 8, 2004, jan rijkhoff and others published the noun phrase find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. The adjective phrase adjp and adverb phrase advp 2 3. A phrase is a group of words that act as a part of speech but cannot stand alone as a sentence. John is the noun phrase functioning as the subject of the verb. Noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, gerund phrase, infinitive phrase and absolute phrase. Hints a noun phrase serves the same purpose as a noun.
The percentage of people in full time work increased steadily. The genitive case can also be indicated by an of phrase after a noun. After lunch after slithering down the stairs and across the road to scare nearly to death mrs. The dental facility recorded a higher number of patients last week. Some of these phrases are obligatory such as noun phrase and verb. In this example, the noun phrase contains a noun river and an article the. In order to create complex noun phrases, we put information after the noun we are modifying. An adjective phrase conducts the task of the adjective.
Phrases in english grammar with examples pdf parts of speech. These are the phrases contains a noun name, place or things and at least one modifier associated to the noun. A noun phrase often abbreviated as np most commonly functions as a subject. Some of the most common functions of noun phrases are listed below. Like all nouns, a noun phrase can be a subject, object, or complement. The noun phrase the river is the subject of the sentence. In the preceding sentence, the present participle sniffing introduces the participial phrase, which includes the participles object. Noun a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A noun phrase always includes a noun, which is a person, place, or thing.
The first part offers a theoretical overview of the terminology of the complex noun phrase as introduced in four popular english grammar books, while the second part presents and discusses the. As a member, youll also get unlimited access to over 79,000. In sentence 2, the group of words to go home is the object of the verb want and hence it does the work of a noun. The head of a noun phrase can be accompanied by modifiers, determiners such as the, a, her, andor complements, as in the cheerful bells of the church were ringing. Examples of such properties in the nominal domain are that non pronominal noun. The head of a phrase is the phrases central element. The individual sentence will determine how the noun phrase is used. To shorten phrases like this, it is very common in scientific english for the second part of resources to be moved in front of the. Noun phrase a noun and any words in the sentence that modify it. This phrase can act or function as a noun, an adjective, or an adverb. You could replace joan with a group of words a phrase and say, i met your sister. You can find the noun dog in a sentence, for example, but you dont know which canine the writer means until you consider the entire noun phrase.
Another way that sentences behave rather like noun phrases is in par ticipating in binding relations. Nouna word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Phrases in english grammar with examples pdf parts of. The following are example sentences from english, in which a serves as an indefinite article. The possessive determiners my, your, his, hers, its, our, and theirs are sometimes regarded as genitive pronouns. Sniffing the fresh air, jim realized he had found paradise. Chapter 6 phrases, clauses, and sentences chapter checkin recognizing phrases identifying independent and subordinate clauses understanding sentences clauses and phrases are the building blocks of sentences. Noun phrases are very common crosslinguistically, and they may be the most frequently occurring phrase type noun phrases often function as verb subjects and objects, as predicative expressions and as the complements of prepositions.
Jeff is a good human being and capable of doing many tasks. Similar to a relative clause, a noun clause is usually introduced by a relative pronoun, but may also begin with a subordinating conjunction. English features the preposition of in the renderings of examples like 1a, we will include this. Building trees phrase structure a phrase is a syntactic unit headed by a lexical category such as. Modifiers, heads and qualifiers as outlined in unit 6, the basic structure of the noun phrase is m h q. Additional noun phrases examples the noun phrase is in bold. If the word books were to occur alone, then it could potentially. Noun phrases are groups of words that function like a single noun. Noun phrases are very common crosslinguistically, and they may be the most frequently occurring phrase type.
A noun clause is a type of dependent clause that functions as a noun in the sentence. A single word may be a phrase when it is the head of that phrase. Again, b is more general, but it does require us to specify when words can function as phrases. The complex noun phrase is sales of cars or the number of cars sold by the company. Noun phrase is written in full when the npdp distinction is not relevant. The poor man wanted to pay back every penny he owed.
A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed by a noun a person, place, or thing and includes modifiers e. A noun phrase can be a single wordjust the nounor more than one word. For example, in the phrase long books the adjective long re strictively modifies the noun books. So is the old, smelly, shivering dog is also a phrase. Depending upon its function in a sentence, phrases are divided into various types. Also called an infinitival phrase and a toinfinitive phrase, it is a construction made up of the particle to and the base form of a verb, with or without modifiers, complements, and objects. A noun phrase functions as a subject or an object in a sentence. Noun phrases a noun phrase is a group of two or more words that is headed by a noun a person, place, or thing that includes modifiers e. Just as nouns can act as subjects, objects, and prepositional objects, so can noun. You may also like science worksheets examples for students. Here are some examples of noun phrases being used as subjects, objects, and complements. Like participles alone, participial phrases are used as adjectives.
Noun phrases can function in several different ways in a sentence. Sometimes compound nouns appear as two separate words. The terrified fox jumped off the edge and crushed on the rock. A noun phrase can function as a subject, an object, or a complement within a sentence. Notice that grammatically, we use a complex noun phrase like a single noun, so we could replace the whole complex noun phrase with it. If the noun is nonspecific, that is, the noun refers to a general idea and not a specific person, place, or. As he suggests, a noun phrase may have different functions in a sentence, the typical being the subject and object. In english, for example, the sentence consists of phrases with different labels and functions.
Sep 19, 2010 in sentence 1, the word something is a noun and is the object of the verb want. Noun phrases english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. That means it can be the subject or object of the verb. Most compound nouns are made with nouns that have been modified by adjectives or other nouns in many compound nouns, the first word describes or modifies the second word, giving us insight into what kind of thing an item is, or providing us with clues about the item. The simplest noun phrase consists of an article and a.
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