Noun phrases - Introduction

Dr. Grammar says:

“What’s wrong with these sentences? The girl beautiful gave me a very smile sweet.”

EXPLANATION:

A noun phrase is a group of words which are connected to a noun to provide more information about what is being described. They are found before and after verbs (so can be the subject or object in a sentence. For example:

The small boy read a difficult book.

This sentence contains two noun phrases and a verb.

Why use noun phrases?

Noun phrases are used for two main reasons:

1. As mentioned previously, they describe things. They give more information than single nouns would. For example:

The boy read a book. = less information

or

The small boy read a difficult book. = descriptive

2. They say a lot of information in fewer words than using clauses (a clause has a noun and a verb), they are concise. For example:

The boy that is small read a book that was difficult. = unnecessary relative clauses

Vs

The small boy read a difficult book. = concise

When can we use noun phrases?

Noun phrases can be used in sentences where nouns are used. Therefore, any sentence! When you want to provide a description of something (a person, a place, an animal… anything.) you can add more information using noun phrases.

How do we make noun phrases?

There are many types of noun phrases that can be used. Below is a list of the main types which are commonly used:

A big black motorbike =

Adjectives (big, black) and nouns (motorbike)

A surprisingly fast big black motorbike =

Adverbs (surprisingly), adjectives (big, black) and nouns (motorbike)

A surprisingly fast big black motorbike on the road =

Adverbs (surprisingly), adjectives (big, black), nouns (motorbike) and prepositional phrases (on the road)

This is the usual order for a noun phrase:

Adverb(s) + adjective(s) + noun(s) + prepositional phrase(s)

So…

The girl beautiful gave me a very smile sweet. X

The beautiful girl gave me a very sweet smile. √

EXERCISE:

Look at the following sentences, and put the noun phrases in brackets into the correct order:

1. (mobile my small phone annoyingly orange) was stolen yesterday.

2. Some people think that (giant the in panda China) is (a gentle beautifully animal).

3. (longest river in world the) is (Nile river the Africa in)

4. (technological in society advances modern) have revolutionized the world.

5. (the famous race mythical women most warrior of) is the Amazons.

Answers:

1. My annoyingly small orange mobile phone was stolen yesterday.

2. Many people think that the giant panda in China is a beautifully gentle animal.

3. The longest river in the world is the River Nile in Africa.

4. Technological advances in modern society have revolutionized the world.

5. The most famous race of mythical warrior women was the Amazons.

FURTHER PRACTICE:

Now go to the article “Amazons”, which is about warrior women, and find noun phrases within the article. See if you can identify the parts of the phrases (adverbs, adjectives, nouns and prepositional phrases).

Finally, look out for more lessons on noun phrases next week!

This material is provided by the Australian Centre for Education and Training (ACET).