Hello lovely learner!
How are you doing today?
In this lesson we will learn more about noun phrase.
In our previous lesson we learned about nouns.
I hope you’ve not forgotten.
Before we proceed lets remind ourselves of what nouns are.
Nouns are naming words.
Now lets dive into today’s lesson.
A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun.
A noun phrase is a group of two or more words headed by a noun that includes modifiers (e.g., ‘the,’ ‘a,’ ‘of them,’ ‘with her’).
A noun phrase plays the role of a noun. In a noun phrase, the modifiers can come before or after the noun.
A noun phrase can also be headed by a pronoun. For example:
- the dog with fleas
- the one with fleas
please watch the video below to get more insight on the
Examples of Noun Phrases
In normal writing, nouns nearly always feature in noun phrases. It is rare to find a noun functioning by itself (i.e., without any modifiers) in a sentence.
- Man proposes, but God disposes. (German canon Thomas à Kempis)
In real life, it is far more common for nouns to feature in noun phrases, i..e, to be accompanied by modifiers. Here is a list of noun phrases. In this list, every noun phrase consists of a head noun (highlighted) and at least one modifier.
- People: the soldier, my cousin, dopey Alan, the lawyer with the big nose
- Animals: that aardvark, one rat, a shark, funny Mickey
- Places: the house in the corner, inner London, dirty factory, no shelter
- Things: this table, our London Bridge, the sharp chisel, that nitrogen, last month, an inch, her cooking
- Ideas: utter confusion, some kindness, your faith, the Theory of Relativity, a joy
So, a noun with any sort of modifier (even it’s just “a” or “the”) is a noun phrase.
Test on Noun Phrases
1. True or false? A noun phrase consists of a noun (a person, place, or thing) and any modifiers.
A. True
B. False
2. True or false? A noun phrase can function as a subject, an object, or a complement within a sentence.
A. True
B. False
3. Select the one with a noun phrase in bold:
A. Youth would be an ideal state if it came a little later in life.
B. Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.
4. Select the one with a noun phrase in bold:
A. When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President. Now I’m beginning to believe it.
B. The thing that impresses me the most about America is the way parents obey their children.
5. Select the one with a noun phrase in bold:
A. Democracy is the name we give the people whenever we need them.
B. One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.
6. Select the head noun in this noun phrase.
one true love of mine
7. Select the head noun in this noun phrase.
three devils in disguise
8. Select the one with a noun phrase in bold:
A. There cannot be a crisis next week. My schedule is already full.
B. You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.
9. Select the one with a noun phrase in bold:
A. I am just going outside and may be some time.
B. In America any boy may become President, and I suppose it’s just one of the risks that he takes.
10. Select the head noun in this noun phrase.
the heavy one in the middle
11. Select the head noun in the noun phrase in the following sentence.
Deliberately raising your arm is illegal.
The Function of Noun Phrases
Like any noun, a noun phrase can function as a subject, an object, or a complement within a sentence. In each example below, the noun phrase is in bold and the head noun is highlighted.
- Singing in the bath relaxes me.
- I know the back streets.
- She was the devil in disguise.
As most nouns feature in noun phrases, let’s look quickly at the definition for “phrase”:
Definition of “Phrase”
A phrase has at least two words and functions as one part of speech.
It follows therefore that a noun phrase functions as a noun in a sentence. We can test this because we know that a noun can be replaced by a pronoun (e.g., he, she, it, them). Looking at the examples above, we can replace each noun phrase with a pronoun.
- It relaxes me.
- I know them.
- She was him.
Here are some real-life examples of noun phrases as subjects, objects, and complements:
- This man has a nice smile, but he’s got iron teeth.
- I never learned from a man who agreed with me.
- Every man of courage is a man of his word.