NOUN PHRASES AND

VERB PHRASES
.
THE NOUN PHRASE
RECOGNIZE A NOUN PHRASE WHEN YOU SEE ONE.
A noun phrase includes a noun—a person, place, or
thing—and the modifiers which distinguish it.
You can find the noun dog in a sentence, for example,
but you don't know which canine the writer means until
you consider the entire noun phrase:
• that dog,
• Aunt Audrey's dog,
• the dog on the sofa,
• the neighbour's dog that chases our cat,
• the dog digging in the new flower bed.
Modifiers can come before or after the noun. Ones that
come before might include articles, possessive
nouns, possessive pronouns, adjectives and/or participles.

• Articles: a dog, the dog

• Possessive nouns: Aunt Audrey's dog,
the neighbour's dog, the police officer's dog
• Possessive pronouns: our dog, her dog, their dog
• Adjectives: the well-trained dog, the big dog,
the spotted dog
• Participles: the drooling dog, the barking dog
 WHAT ARE NOUN PHRASES?
A noun phrase is a phrase that plays the role of a noun. The HEAD
WORD in a noun phrase will be a noun or a pronoun. In the examples
below, the whole noun phrase is shaded and the head word is in bold.
• I like singing in the bath. Compare the examples:
I like it.
• I know the back streets. I know them.
• I've met the last remaining chief. I've met him.
In these three examples, the words in bold are all pronouns. The ability
to replace the noun phrases in the first three examples with a pronoun
proves that the shaded texts are functioning as nouns, making
them noun phrases.
Like any noun, a noun phrase can be a subject, an object, or
a complement.
 What is a noun phrase?
Before we go any further, let's remind ourselves
of what a noun phrase is.
• A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of
words that can be replaced by a pronoun.
• For example, 'they', 'cars', and 'the cars' are noun phrases, but 'car' is just a
noun, as you can see in these sentences (in which the noun phrases are all in
bold)
Q: Do you like cars?
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the cars over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the car I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the car', not 'car')
 NOUN PHRASE
Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:
• People like to have money. (noun)
I am tired. (pronoun)
It is getting late. (pronoun)
or a determiner and a noun …:
• Our friends have bought a house in the village. (determiner: Our)
Those houses are very expensive. (determiner: Those)
… perhaps with an adjective:
• Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village. (adjective:
closest)
Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier:
• All those children go to school here. (quantifier: all)
Both of my younger brothers are married. (quantifier: both)
Some people spend a lot of money. (quantifier: some)
IDENTIFY THE NOUN PHRASES IN THE FOLLOWING
SENTENCES.
Hints: A noun phrase serves the same purpose as a noun.
That means it can be the subject or object of the verb. It
can also be the object of a preposition.

• 1. He wished to talk to his manager.

• 2. The wicked man loves getting poor people into trouble.
• 3. The poor man wanted to pay back every penny he owed.
• 4. He hates having to punish his servants.
• 5. Horses prefer living in dark stables.
• 6. I will never do such a thing.
ANSWERS
Noun phrases are underlined in the following sentences.

• 1. He wished to talk to his manager.

• 2. The wicked man loves getting poor people into trouble.
• 3. The poor man wanted to pay back every penny he
owed.
• 4. He hates having to punish his servants.
• 5. Horses prefer living in dark stables.
• 6. I will never do such a thing.
VERB PHRASES
.
VERB PHRASE
What Is a Verb Phrase?
• A verb phrase consists of an auxiliary, or helping, verb
and a main verb. The helping verb always precedes
the main verb.
• Helping verbs include forms of be, such as am, is, are,
was, were, being, and been; forms of have, such
as has and had; forms of do, such as does and did; and
modal forms such as can, could, will,
would, shall; should, may, might, and must.
VERB PHRASES
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
1) a main verb:

Verb
We are here
I like it
Everybody saw the accident
We laughed

The verb may be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense
(saw, laughed). A verb phrase with only a main verb
expresses simple aspect.
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
2) AN AUXILIARY VERB ("BE") AND A MAIN VERB IN ‘–ING’ FORM:

Auxiliary ‘be’ verb (-ing)

Everybody is watching

We were laughing

A verb phrase with ‘be’ and –ing

expresses continuous aspect.
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
3) AN AUXILIARY VERB ("HAVE") AND A MAIN VERB
WITH PAST PARTICIPLE

Auxiliary (‘have’ ) verb (past participle)

They have enjoyed themselves
Everybody has worked hard
He had finished work

A verb with "have" and the past participle

expresses perfect aspect. A verb
with have/has expresses present perfect, and a verb
with had expresses past perfect.
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
4) AN AUXILIARY VERB ("HAVE" + "BEEN") AND A MAIN
VERB IN THE –ING FORM:

Auxiliary ‘have’ + ‘been’ verb (-ing)

Everybody has been working hard

He had been singing

A verb with "have" and "been" and the present participle

expresses perfect continuous aspect. A verb
with have/has expresses present perfect continuous, and a
verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
5) A MODAL VERB (can, could, may, might, must, shall,
should, will, would) AND A MAIN VERB:

Modal verb and main verb

They will come

He might come
The verb phrase in English has the following forms:
6) WE CAN USE MODAL VERBS WITH THE AUXILIARIES
"BE", "HAVE", AND "HAVE BEEN":

Modal Auxiliary Verb

They will be listening

He might have arrived

She must have been listening

VERB PHRASE
1.A group of words including a verb and its
complements, objects, or other modifiers that functions
as a verb.
2.A phrase consisting of a main verb and any auxiliaries
but not including modifiers, objects, or complements.

In English a verb phrase combines with a noun or noun

phrase acting as subject to form a simple sentence.
 THE VERB PHRASE
Recognize a verb phrase when you see
one.

• Every sentence must have a verb.

• To depict do-able activities, writers
use action verbs.
• To describe conditions, writers
choose linking verbs.

(see next slide for a brief

explanation of these…)
 LINKING VERBS
Unlike action verbs, linking verbs show a relationship between the subject of the
sentence and a noun or adjective being linked to it.
• My dog is an Akita. (Dog and Akita are linked because they are the same thing)
• My cat is very furry. (Cat and furry are linked because furry describes the cat.)
The most common linking verbs are forms of the verb to be: am, is, are, was, were,
being, been.
Other common linking verbs include: appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain,
seem, smell, sound, stay, taste, and turn.
• If left too long, that milk may turn sour.
• I feel refreshed after that nap
To check if these verbs are being used as linking verbs, try replacing them with the correct
form of to be. If they make sense and have almost the same meaning, they are linking verbs:
• Laurie appears tired.
• Laurie is tired.
 EXAMPLE:
Offering her license and registration, Selene sobbed in
the driver's seat. Officer Carson was unmoved.
• Sometimes an action or condition occurs just once - and it's over.
However, it can continue over a long stretch of time, happen
predictably, or occur in relationship to other events.
• In these instances, a single-word verb like sobbed or was cannot
accurately describe what happened, so writers use multipart verb
phrases to communicate what they mean.
• As many as four words can comprise a verb phrase.
• A main or base verb indicates the type of action or condition (WHAT is
happening), and auxiliary—or helping—verbs convey the other nuances
that writers want to express (WHEN something is happening or
happened).
Read these three examples:
- The tires screeched as Selena mashed the accelerator.
- Selena is always disobeying the speed limit.
- Selena should have been driving with more care, for then
she would not have gotten her third ticket this year.

• In the first sentence, screeched and mashed, single-word verbs,

describe the quick actions of both the tires and Selena.
• Since Selena has an inclination to speed, is disobeying [a two-word
verb] communicates the frequency of her law breaking. The auxiliary
verbs that comprise should have been driving [a four-word verb]
and would have gotten [a three-word verb] express not only time
relationships but also evaluation of Selena's actions.
 Note that an adverb is not part of the verb phrase.
Since a verb phrase might use up to four words, a short adverb —
such as also, never, or not—might try to sneak in between the parts.
When you find an adverb snuggled in a verb phrase, it is still an adverb, not part of
the verb.

Read these examples:

- For her birthday, Selena would also like a radar detector.
would like = verb; also = adverb.
- To avoid another speeding ticket, Selena will never again take her eyes off the
road to fiddle with the radio.
will take = verb; never, again = adverbs.
- Despite the stern warning from Officer Carson, Selena has not lightened her foot
on the accelerator.
has lightened = verb; not = adverb.
 • Despite our reservations, we did go out in
the snowstorm.
('Did go' is the verb phrase. 'Did' is the
helping verb and 'go' is the main verb.)
• Uma is coming with us to the movie.
('Is coming' is the verb phrase. 'Is' is the
EXAMPLES: helping verb, and 'coming' is the main
verb.)
• We will distribute pamphlets as part of our
presentation.
(Will distribute is the verb phrase. Will is the
helping verb, and 'distribute' is the main
verb.)
EXAMPLES
• Ethan should take his watch to get repaired.
(Should take is the verb phrase. Should is the helping verb, and take is the main verb.)

• We have gotten a lot of rainfall lately.

(Have gotten is the verb phrase. Have is the helping verb, and gotten is the main
verb.)

• Lars might need some help with his car.

(Might need is the verb phrase. Might is the helping verb, and need is the main verb.)

• Jonah and Elsa must collect donations for the charity.

(Must collect is the verb phrase. Must is the helping verb, and collect is the main
verb.)

• You can call me when you need a ride.

(Can call is the verb phrase. Can is the helping verb, and call is the main verb.)