Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:
Some words and phrases come after the noun. These are called postmodifiers. A noun phrase can be postmodified in several ways. Here are some examples:
• with a prepositional phrase:
There may be more than one postmodifier:
People like to have money.
I am tired.
It is getting late.
I am tired.
It is getting late.
or a determiner and a noun …:
Our friends have bought a house in the village.
Those houses are very expensive.
Those houses are very expensive.
… perhaps with an adjective:
Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village.
Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier:
All those children go to school here.
Both of my younger brothers are married
Some people spend a lot of money.
Both of my younger brothers are married
Some people spend a lot of money.
Numbers:
Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners:
My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.)
Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine)
Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases are mine)
So the noun phrase is built up in this way:
Noun: people; money
Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses
Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money
Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.
Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children;
Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers
Determiner + noun: the village, a house, our friends; those houses
Quantifier + noun: some people; a lot of money
Determiner + adjective + noun: our closest friends; a new house.
Quantifier + determiner + noun: all those children;
Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun: both of my younger brothers
The noun phrase can be quite complicated:
a loaf of nice fresh brown bread
the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop with a pistol
that attractive young woman in the blue dress sitting over there in the corner
the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop with a pistol
that attractive young woman in the blue dress sitting over there in the corner
Some words and phrases come after the noun. These are called postmodifiers. A noun phrase can be postmodified in several ways. Here are some examples:
• with a prepositional phrase:
a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner
• with an –ing phrase:
the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela
the boy talking to Angela
• with a relative clause:
the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
• with a that clause.
This is very common with reporting or summarising nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:
This is very common with reporting or summarising nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:
He’s still very fit, in spite of the fact that he’s over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn’t like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.
She got the idea that people didn’t like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.
• with a to-infinitive.
This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:
This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:
You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
I’ve got no decent shoes to wear.
I need somewhere to sleep.
I’ve got no decent shoes to wear.
There may be more than one postmodifier:
an eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a coke
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a coke
| There are four complex noun phrases in this section: |
|---|
The accident happened at around 3pm on Wednesday. A man climbing nearby who saw the accident said “It wasthe most amazing rescue I have ever seen.” 42-year-old Joe Candler saw Miss Johnson’s fall along with his partner Fay Hamilton.
The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peakwere killed in a fall when high winds blew them off the mountain.
|
