UNIT 5

NOUN PHRASE 1: FORM AND STUCTURE

0. Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you will:
- be able to explain the structure of NP,
- be able to explain the types of NP,
- be able to explain the functions of NP,
- be able to use NP in technical texts correctly.

1. Noun and Noun Phrase

1.1 Noun

Nouns constitute the largest class of words in most languages including

English. In the English language, noun may also function as verb or
other class of words. If you are not sure of what class of a word is you
can consult your monolingual (English-English) dictionary. And, that is
what an English dictionary is for. You have learned it in Unit 2 how to
use English dictionary. The class of word of the entry word is one of the
first information given by the dictionary. Once you know the class of the
word of the entry word, you know how to form and to use the word in
the sentence.

Nouns, in general, are the words used to refer to persons (Sarah), places
(library), things (book), animals (cat), qualities (softness), abstract ideas
(justice), or actions (yodeling). There are a number of different categories
of nouns.

1.1.1 Common Nouns and Proper Nouns

The term “common noun” is usually used to refer to a person, place, or

thing. But, it does not cover the name of a particular person, place, or
thing. Examples of common nouns are animal, sunlight, and happiness.
The term “proper noun” is used to refer to the name of a particular
person, place, or thing. It is usually written with a capital letter. The
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examples of proper noun are Abraham Lincoln, Argentina, and World

War I.

Common Nouns Proper Nouns

author Mark Twain

ocean Atlantic
country Indonesia
computer Lenovo
(always capitalized)

1.1.2 Collective Nouns

People often also name a

bunch of things or people as a
group. A group of people who
work together for instance is
called “a team”. The word
team does not refer to a
certain person but to a group
of certain people. The word
team is called as a collective
noun. A collective noun,
hence, is a noun that names a
group of people or things.

In the United Sates collective nouns are usually considered as singular

noun, while in the United Kingdom they are usually considered as
plural. Example uses of collective nouns in sentences are as follow.

 Tommy was excited to see a herd of elephants on the way to his

native place.
 The bench of judges gave the verdict on the case.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 69

 The kid enjoyed seeing the flock of pigeons take off all at once.
 The football team was congratulated by the principal.
 The mob was getting crazier with time.

1.1.3 Mass Noun

Mass noun is also known as uncountable noun. It refers to something

that cannot be counted. Generally mass nouns are not used with an
article a or an before the noun. Mass nouns are used as singular nouns
and, hence, cannot be pluralized. The examples are as follow.

 I don’t like coffee. I don’t like a coffee.

 The information is unclear. The informations are unclear.

1.2 Noun Phrase

A noun phrase is a term which refers to a group of words. It is usually a

noun in addition to a modifier—such as an adjective, adverb, or
article—that functions just as a noun. Chapter 4 have introduced the
term Noun Phrase and Verb Phrase. We will keep using these terms
when we are dealing with a sentence construction. Though a
constituent of a sentence may only be in the form a single noun or a
single verb, they will be named as a noun phrase or a verb phrase.

A phrase is named Noun Phrase if the word class of the core of the
phrase is Noun. The core of the phrase is also known as the head of
the phrase. Meanwhile, the word or the words added to the head are
called modifier which functions to modify (change) the sense of the
noun. Noun as the head of a Noun Phrase can have (a) modifier(s) which
is/are place before and or after it.

The modifiers may come (i) before the head, (ii) after the head, and (iii)
both before and after the head. The first type of modifiers is called pre-
modifiers, the second post-modifiers, and the third is the combination
of the first and the second. Therefore, the form of Noun Phrase may be
in the following form.
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3
2
1
Pre-modifiers Head Post-modifiers

2. Pre-modified Noun Phrase

Modifiers which can be placed before the head of a Noun Phrase include
determiners, quantifiers, numbers, and adjectives.

 Determiners : Those houses are very expensive.

 Quantifiers : I've lived in a lot of houses.
 Numbers : My brother owns two houses.
 Adjectives : I love old houses.

These parts of the noun phrases (in bold words) are called pre-
modifiers because they go before the noun (head of the Noun Phrase).

In general the pre-modifiers of Noun Phrase in English include

determiners, numbers, and adjectives.

Determiner Number Adjective HEAD

the books
the new books
the three new books
a lot of new books

2.1 Determiners

Determiners are words that determine the definiteness of the noun

being talked about or the quantity of a noun which the speaker is
referring to. Determiners include the following.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 71

Articles = a, an, the

Possessive adjectives = my your, his, her, their, our, its
Demonstrative adjectives = this, that, these, those
Distributive adjectives = each, every, either, neither, any, both.
Quantifiers = some, any, enough, plenty of, much,
many, a few, the few, a lot of, several.

Find the Noun Phrases and identify the modifier

used in the following sentences.
1. Neither team deserved to win the match.
2. You can’t question his loyalty.
3. I have a few friends to meet.
4. I don’t have an apple.
5. The movie was great.
6. Many people are waiting to see me fall.
7. My dog is not as big as yours.
8. They are planning to cut that tree.
9. Do you know those people?
10. You can take either box.
11. Every team played well.
12. I love your house.
13. Bring some books to read.
14. This is a book.
15. Don’t touch this box.
16. There is a lot of money in this.
17. These candies are delicious.
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2.2 Numbers

Numbers used to modify a noun can include both cardinal and ordinal
numbers. They function to provide information about a noun; to specify
the exact quantity (number) of the noun they modify.

Numbers are considered a part of quantifiers. But we keep them

separate as they refer to specific quantifies. There is in problem in
making numbers as a part of quantifiers.

Cardinal numbers = one, two, three, ..

Ordinal number = first, second, third, …

The examples are as follow.

 Samson has two houses.

 I bought 5 chairs last month.
 This is my first trip to Lombok.
 She was his second love.

2.3 Adjectives

Adjectives are words that describe a noun. Here are some common
adjectives in English: good, bad, smart, beautiful, foolish, rich, poor,
intelligent, dumb, wise, ugly, tall, huge, talented, kind, cruel, short, fat,
slim, expensive, and cheap.

2.3.1 Regular Adjectives

There two kinds of adjectives, (i) regular adjectives and (ii) derivative
adjectives. The first one refers to words whose default class of word in
dictionary is Adjective. Generally the class of adjective is given to those
words at the first place. The example is the word “large” in Merriam-
Webster dictionary. The second one includes (i) present participle
adjective, past participle adjective, and noun adjective.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 73

The word “large” may function in three different classes. But the first or
primary class given is Adjective. It indicates the default class of the
word “large” is Adjective.

Here are the examples of regular adjectives used in a sentence.

 It is a big hotel. We all can stay here.

 It is an expensive hotel; we can’t afford it.
 He is a tall man.
 We need some good people to run our business.
 You are an old fighter.
 Jerry doesn’t want cheap things.
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2.3.2 Present Participle Adjectives

Present participle adjectives refers to verbs ending with ‘ing’ and

function as an adjective. They function as adjective because they come
right before a noun and modify it.

Take the following sentence as the examples.

It is an exciting movie to watch.

The sentence contains a Noun phrase “an exciting movie”. The Noun
Phrase has two pre-modifiers, i.e. (i) “an” and (ii) “exiting”.

an exiting movie

Determiner adjective HEAD

The word ‘exciting’ comes from the word ‘excite’. Let’s take a look at
what the dictionary informs us.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 75

The dictionary tells us that the word “excite” is a Verb by default. It

conjugates to be excited and exciting. When the verb “excite” will be
used to modify a noun as active Adjective, the verb is added with suffix
“-ing” to its base and becomes “exciting”.

The sense of the phrase exciting movie is “a movie which excites its
viewers”. It shows that the present participle adjective works as an
active adjective. The role of the head is just like the constituent which
does something.

Find Noun Phrases and analyze the modifier used in

the following sentences

1. We are working on an interesting project.

2. India is one of the developing countries in the world.
3. Look at the shinning car. It must be very expensive.
4. That was an inspiring speech. We all loved it.
5. You have put me in this confusing situation.
6. Watching a movie is an entertaining activity on weekend.
7. We are witnessing a moving tragedy in Philadelphia.

2.3.3 Past Participle Adjectives

Past participle adjectives refer to verb classified as V3 and function as

an adjective. As the present participle adjectives, they function as
adjective because they come right before a noun and modify it.

Take the following sentence as the examples.

He keeps fighting with shattered nose.

The sentence contains a Noun phrase “shattered nose”. The Noun
Phrase has only one pre-modifier, i.e. “shattered”.
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shattered nose

adjective HEAD

The word ‘shattered’ comes from the word ‘shatter’. Let’s take a look at
what the dictionary informs us.

The dictionary tells us that the word “excite” is a Verb by default. It

conjugates to be excited and exciting. When the verb “excite” will be
used to modify a noun as active Adjective, the verb is added with suffix
“-ing” to its base and becomes “exciting”.

The sense of the phrase shattered nose is “nose which is damaged by

the opponent”. It shows that the past participle adjective works as a
passive adjective. The role of the head is just like the constituent which
receives the impact of the past participle adjectives.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 77

Find Noun Phrases and analyze the modifier used in

the following sentences

1. A motivated man can do anything.

2. Don’t buy that. It is a disputed property.
3. Can I have a glass of boiled water?
4. My cousin Totu loves having frozen yogurt.
5. Don’t mess with him; he is a trained fighter.

2.3.4 Noun Adjective

Noun adjectives refer to regular nouns that don’t function as nouns.

Rather, they function as adjectives. Take the following sentence as the
example.

It is my school bag.

my school bag

Determiner adjective HEAD

Let’s take a look at what the dictionary informs us about the word class
of the word school.
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The word “bag” is the head in this noun phrase, and the word “my” and
“school” are pre-modifiers. As the dictionary tells us, the word
“school” generally works as a noun, but here it is not working as a
noun. It is working as an adjective which modifies the noun “bag” and
tells us the description of the bag.

Find Noun Phrases and analyze the modifier used in

the following sentences
1. It is a leather jacket.
2. I have some office work.
3. I want to buy cotton shirts
4. He is going for a government job.
5. Alex has a food company.
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 79

3. Post-modified Noun Phrase

Post-modified noun phrases are Noun Phrases where the post-modifiers come
after the head of the Noun Phrase. Because the modifiers of a noun phrase go
after the noun, these are called post-modifiers. Hence, post-modifiers in
general are words that come after a noun and give information about it.

Post-modifiers of Noun Phrase may be (i) prepositional phrase, (ii) present

participle phrase, (iii) past participle phrase, (iv) relative clause, (v) that-clause,
(vi) to infinitive phrase, and (vii) appositive.

3.1 Prepositional Phrases

A prepositional phrase starts with a preposition and is followed by the

complement of the preposition. The name prepositional phrase
indicates that the head of the phrase is preposition. When a
preposition phrase comes right after a noun and modifies it, this
preposition phrase is called a post-modifier.

Notice the analysis of the noun phrase “a man with a gun” below.

Prepositional Phrase
Noun Phrase
Preposition Noun Phrase
a man with a gun
preposition determiner HEAD
Determiner HEAD
HEAD Complement

HEAD Post-modifier

Pay attention to the other examples as follow.

 The house across the street is believed to be haunted.

Noun phrase = the house across the street

Premodifier = the (article)
Noun = house
Postmodifier = across the street (prepositional phrase)
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It is clear here that the prepositional phrase ‘across the street’ functions
to modify the noun “house” and tells us which house we are referring to
in the sentence.

 The guy in the blue coat is my neighbor.

Noun phrase = the guy in the blue coat

Premodifiers = the
Noun = guy
Postmodifier = in the blue coat (prepositional phrase)
If someone is asking which guy is my neighbor, the prepositional phrase
“in the blue coat” identifies the head “guy”. It tells us that not any guy
who is present is my neighbor. It is only “the guy in the blue coat” whois
is my neighbor.

 They are writing a movie about his life.

Noun phrase = a movie about his life

Premodifier = a (article)
Noun = movie
Postmodifier = about his life (prepositional phrase)
The prepositional phrase “about his life” modifies the head “movie” and
tells us which movie the speaker is referring to. It begins with the
preposition “about” as the head and is followed by the complement of
the preposition “his life”.

Find Noun Phrases and analyze the prepositional

phrase as the post-modifier used in the following
sentences

1. the boy in the blue shirt

2. the house on the corner
3. a company with a social corporate responsibility programs
4. that girl in that pink floral dress
5. the building at the end of the block
 Noun Phrase 1: Form and Structure | 81

3.2 Present Participle Phrases

the man standing over there

the boy talking to Angela

3.3 Past Participle Phrases

relative clauses :

3.4 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

3.5 That Clause

• that clauses. These are very common after 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.

3.6 To Infinitive

• to infinitives :

I've got no decent shoes to wear.

These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.

I need somewhere to sleep.

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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

4. Pre & Post-modified Noun Phrase

5. Exercise
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.
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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.