Noun Phrase

Noun phrases consist of two or more words that function as nouns. They are made up of a noun, which is called the head word, as well as other words that modify the noun. Some linguists consider single nouns to be noun phrases too. They call them 'single-word noun phrases'.

Example:

'The spotted puppy.'

The spotted puppy example, pixabay.com

The head noun is 'puppy' and its modifiers are the article 'the' and the adjective 'spotted'.

How do I identify a noun phrase?

The two main parts of a noun phrase are the head word / noun and its modifiers. The modifiers can be placed before or after the noun. Once you have identified the noun it is easy to identify the modifiers. Just look at what is next to the noun!

In this sentence the head noun is 'book'. The pre-modifier (modifier that comes before the noun) is the article 'the'. 'With the blue spine' is the post-modifier (modifier that comes after the head noun).

How do we know that the 'book' and not the 'spine' is the head noun? Because the spine gives extra detail about the book rather than the other way around.

The head noun here is 'tree'. 'The tall' are premodifiers, whereas 'with oranges' is the postmodifier. How do we know that 'tree' is the main noun? Because the noun 'oranges' does not introduce an idea but rather defines what kind of tree it is.

When trying to identify noun phrases a useful technique is it try to replace the noun phrase with a pronoun, like this:

'The blue sky could be seen from the mountain'

The noun phrase is 'the blue sky'. Let's replace it with a pronoun:

'It could be seen from the mountain'. Still works right?

If the sentence makes sense after you replace the phrase with a pronoun, you can be confident that it is in fact a noun phrase. This might not work in all cases but it is useful as a general rule.

Expanded noun phrases

Expanded noun phrases can vary significantly in length. They can be as short as two words (the minimum accepted by most grammarians to form a phrase) or they could be much longer and contain many pre- and post-modifiers. Expanded noun phrases provide additional information in a sentence. They are made up of the main noun and one or more adjectives, nouns, or prepositions which are meant to add further description.

Some other examples:

• 'The smooth, quiet, village road'
• 'The angry, disquieted, English teacher'

Notice that these two examples also contain a noun each. 'Village' and 'English' are nouns.

• 'The man on the balcony'
• 'The child across the table'

These are expanded noun phrases that contain prepositions which introduce postmodifiers. 'On' and 'across' are the prepositions.

What are the modifiers of noun phrases?

Noun phrases come with words that are placed either before or after the main noun. These are called modifiers. If the modifier comes before the main noun, it is called a premodifier; if it comes after it is called a postmodifier.

Premodifiers

Premodifiers are usually made up of determiners, adjectives and nouns:

Determiners

Determiners will usually come first in a noun phrase (eg. 'the pink skirt'). Determiners include:

• Articles: a / an, the
• Demonstrative: this, that, these, those
• Possessive determiners: my, your, his, her, etc.
• Quantifiers: some, any, all, enough, no, every, etc.
• Numerals: one, two, three, etc.
• Interrogative words: which, what, whose

Determiners might seem insignificant but they are paramount to expressing the kind of reference the noun phrase makes.

For example:

• 'This book is the history textbook'

The determiner in this case is the definite article 'the' which makes a definite reference.

• 'My fluffy cat stole the show'

In this sentence, the determiner and premodifier is the possessive determiner 'my' which makes a possessive reference.

Adjectives

Premodifiers also include adjectives. Adjectives are parts of speech which are meant to define and add detail to a noun.

For example:

• 'A tremendous storm'

This noun phrase contains the head noun 'storm' and two premodifiers. The indefinite determiner and the adjective 'tremendous' act as its premodifiers.

• 'The automated job'

This noun phrase contains the head noun 'job' and two premodifiers. The definite determiner 'the' and the adjective 'automated' act as its premodifiers.

• 'My interesting and profitable business'

This expanded noun phrase contains the head noun 'business' and three premodifiers. The possessive determiner 'my' and the adjectives 'interesting' and 'profitable' act as its premodifiers.

As you can see, premodifiers often work together when forming noun phrases.

Nouns

Nouns can also act as the premodifiers of noun phrases. They tend to explain specific attributes of the noun such as material, era, type, texture etc.

For example:

• 'A high school diploma'

The noun 'high-school' specifies the type of diploma.

• 'A silk jacket'

The noun 'silk' specifies the type of jacket.

• 'The nineteenth-century chapel'

The noun 'nineteenth-century' specifies the era the noun 'chapel' was built.

Trying to identify nouns as premodifiers can be difficult because you run the risk of confusing them with the noun head. Make sure to test whether the noun adds more information to another noun, or if it is the noun which the other elements work to define.

Example:

• 'Scotland will be testing a four-day week'

Not: 'Scotland will be testing a four-days week'

• 'He drank a two-liter wine bottle'

Not: 'He drank a two-liter wine bottle'

Post modifiers

Postmodifiers are placed after the head noun. They include complements and more general postmodifiers.

Complements

Complements include prepositional phrases or clauses and are placed immediately after the noun. As their name suggests, they complement the noun. They are necessary to complete the meaning.

In all these cases, removing the complement would dissolve the meaning and the noun phrase would not make sense anymore.

General postmodifiers

General postmodifiers consist of adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, and clauses. General postmodifiers give additional or more specific information about the noun (eg. place, time, possession, features, type etc.). The main difference with complements is that general postmodifiers are not necessary for the noun phrase to make sense.

What are the main uses of noun phrases?

Noun phrases can have several uses in a clause / sentence. Specifically, they can be used as the subject, object or complement.

Noun phrases as subjects

The subject of a sentence identifies who does the action of the verb:

objects

The object in a sentence identifies what / who receives the action of the verb.

Complements

Complements are words or phrases which are necessary to make the sentence's predicate or subject make sense.

Subject complements

These typically follow a linking verb and describe the subject of the sentence.

The noun phrase 'yellow tennis balls' acts as the complement of the sentence because it is necessary for it to make sense. It comes after the linking verb 'sells'.

'The effectiveness of the new plan' is the complement. It comes right after the linking verb 'considered'.