NOUN PHRASES

BY:
EMILY GAN HUI FANG
VOON SUK FONG
AUDREY WONG SING NING
EMILY TENG JIE LING
IVY CHAI PEI LING

LECTURERS NAME: PN ZUBAIDAH BINTI MOHD HAKIM

 WHAT IS NOUN PHRASES?
A group of words with a noun or a pronoun as the head & other constituents including
adjectives, determiners, adverbs, prepositional phrases, verb phrases, and adjective clauses
as modifiers.
Eg. a house these houses the little girl next door heavy rain driven by gales
The sad-looking buckle had nearly fallen off the old shoe.

Can be replaced by a PRONOUN

Eg. The sad-looking buckle had nearly fallen off. (It had nearly fallen off.)
WHAT ARE MODIFIERS?
Elements which describe or classify whatever the head refers to.
Can come before or after the noun. Ones that come before might include
articles, possessive nouns, possessive pronouns, adjectives or participles.
For example:
Articles : a dog, the dog
Possessive nouns : Aunt Lilys dog, the neighbours dog
Possessive pronouns : our dog, her dog, their dog
Adjectives : that dog, the big dog, the spotted dog
Participles : the drooling dog, the barking dog
 Modifiers that come after the noun might include prepositional phrases,
adjectives clauses, participle phrases or infinitives.
For Example:
Prepositional Phrases : a dog on the loose, the dog behind the fence
Adjectives clauses : the dog that chases cats, the dog that looks lost
Participle Phrases : the dog whining for a treat, the dog walked daily
Infinitives : the dog to catch, the dog to train
 TYPES OF NOUN PHRASES
1. INDEFINITE ARTICLE + NOUN
EG. A PEN, A HORSE, A LIE, AN IGLOO, AN ARROW

2. DEFINITE ARTICLE + ADJECTIVE + NOUN

EG. THE CRAZY MAN, THE LOVELY DRESS, THE WINDING ROAD

3. DEFINITE ARTICLE + ADJECTIVE + ADJECTIVE + NOUN

EG. THE BEAUTIFUL SATIN GOWN, THE DARK BELGIUM
CHOCOLATE
4. Indefinite / definite article + superlative adjective +
adjective + noun
eg. A most uninteresting science-fiction movie, the tallest
basketball player

5. Non -finite verb + noun

eg. They dislike watching comedies.
They prefer to watch 3-D movie.
 1. SUBJECT
Function as the subject of clauses or sentences.
eg. My lawyer is a Harvard graduate.
The naughty boys drew graffiti on the walls.

Noun phrases which begin with an infinitive or a present participle can also be the
subject of a sentence or clause.
eg. To become a famous guitarist is Kelvins ambition.
Becoming a famous guitarist is Kelvins ambition.

Noun phrase always occurs before the verb in the main clause.
 2. COMPLIMENT
Function as the compliment of a clause or sentence.

As the noun phrase follows the verb nd either describes or renames the
subject, or is equal to the subject, it can also be called a subject compliment.

eg. The new director appeared to be a caring person.

(subject) (linking verb) (subject complement)
The New Year resolution is to lose some weight.
(subject) (linking verb) (subject complement)
c) A noun phrase beginning with a present participle can be the
complement of the linking verb be but not of the other linking
verbs:
eg. The objective of the camp is training future youth readers.

d) A noun phrase beginning with an infinitive can be the

compliment of the linking verb be and also other linking verbs:
eg. The companys mission is to produce knowledge workers.
The dogs seen to understand their masters instructions.
 3. OBJECT
Function as objects
eg. Susie baked me a cake.
(subject) (verb) (indirect object) (direct object)

Noun phrase as direct object

eg. The zookeepers are feeding the elephants.
Our father gave mother a wondererful surprise.

Noun phrase as indirect object

eg. My maid gave my pet dog a bubble bath.
Carolyns friend gave her a string of pearls.
d) When the passive forms of a distransitive verb is used, either the
direct object or indirect object can be the subject of the clause.
eg. The waitress was given a generous tip.

e) When the subject and the indirect object refer to the same person,
can use a reflexive pronoun as the indirect object:
eg. The children ordered themselves two large pizzas.
4. OBJECT COMPLIMENT

Noun phrase as object complement

eg. Many people consider golf a rich mans sport.
My boss often calls our accountant a stingy moron.
5. NOUN PHRASE MODIFIERS

Noun Phrases as Noun Phrase Modifiers

Eg. The Smiths has just bought an Italian dining table.

All the underline phrases are noun phrases, the words in

Italic are also nouns or noun phrases describing the nouns in
bold.
6. PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT

Noun phrase as prepositional complements

When a noun phrase is used as the object of a preposition,

it comes after the preposition:

eg. Lucys boyfriend bought a fruit basket for her parents.

We missed the concert because of the heavy traffic.
7. ADVERBIALS

defined as words or phrases that modify and entire clause by providing

additional information about time, place, manner, condition, purpose, reason,
result and concession.

Can be added to or removed from the sentence without changing the meaning
of the main clause.
Eg. The Gomez family left for their holiday yesterday afternoon.
(adverbial)- tells when they left for their holiday
****Do not confuse adverbials with adverb ! An adverb is a part of
speech or word class, like a noun or verb. Some examples of adverbs
are angrily, today, there, entirely, often, frequently, etc.

** An adverbial is a sentence element, like a subject or object. It can

be a single word or a phrase. Some examples are in the bedroom,
tomorrow, this evening, right now, around the block, etc.
 8. DETERMINATIVES
Provide information such as familiarity, location, quantity, and number
Possessive nouns function as determinatives
Indicate possession or some other relationship to another noun or noun phrase.

Eg. My brothers apartment is small.

The man who stole my purses car has been towed.

Can simultaneously function as subject complements.

Eg. This bowl is the dogs.
Those books by the door are the librarys.
9. APPOSITIVES
A word, phrase, or clause that modifies or explain another noun phrase

Eg. My grandfather, the farmer, bought more farm land.

The teacher, my uncle, assigns a lot of homework.
The musician Stevie Nicks is a singer in the band Fleetwood Mac.
Simple Complicated
NP NP

Noun
Phrase
SIMPLE NOUN PHRASES
Consists of just one word, which is normally a noun, although pronouns can
replace nouns, and adjectives occasionally stand in for nouns. A determiner is
also usually required.
Whereas a noun or pronoun can sometimes stand alone as a single-word,
simple noun phrase, a determiner such as article cannot stand alone and is
defined by its function in relation to the item it determines.
The noun or pronoun is therefore regarded as the HEAD of the noun phrase.

Eg. Our house is empty. (NP noun + determiner)

The unemployed chase jobs. (NP1 adjective + determiner; NP2 noun)
COMPLICATED NOUN PHRASES
Contains the obligatory HEAD (a word that could stand alone as a simple noun
phrase) as well as modification provided by a determiner (d), a pre-modifier (PRM)
and a post-modifier.
Pre-modifiers occur before the head, while post-modifiers come after the head.

Eg. The (d) most alarming (PRM) noise (head)

Books (head) with extremely long prefaces (POM)
Her exquisite poetry collection (poetry is noun as PRM; exquisite is adjective as
PRM)
Books that change the world (that change the world is relative clause as POM)
The fashion house in New York (POM) are different.
 Often contain both pre-modifier and post-modifier

Eg. An (d) ancient (PRM) book (head) whose

covers are decorated with gold letters (POM).
LETS HAVE A TRY
!!!
COMPARE THESE SENTENCES.

The sun has

VS
The glowing sun
that gives life has
risen. slowly risen.
IDENTIFY THE NOUN PHRASES IN THE SENTENCES.

1. Ignorant people have bought some amazing home remedies.

2. Many patent medicines were mostly alcohol or water.
3. Spences Positive Powders were supposed to cure fever.
4. Hair tonic advertisements promised long, beautiful hair.
5. No medicine was sometimes considered the best medicine.
6. We enjoy playing golf.
HOW ABOUT THIS?
The girl with red hair was afraid of flying. She was determined to overcome
this fear. Her aunt in America had invited her to stay and she wanted to go.
Fears like this can be overcome, she decided.

Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound,
twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the
identity of things, seems to me have been gained on a memorable raw
afternoon towards the evening. At such a time, I found out of certain, that this
bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip
Pirrip, late of this parish