THE

COMPLEX
NOUN
PHRASE
 GROUP 4

Hoang Thi Quynh Thom

12:45
AM

Nguyen Thi Thanh Thanh

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our presentation

Khuong Phuong Linh - Group 4 -

 TABLE OF CONTENT

A B
Theory The usages of complex noun
phrase in
commercial contract
 Complex noun phrase

Complex noun phrases are a very important aspect of English grammar.

 I
Elements of complex noun
phrase
ELEMENTS OF COMPLEX NOUN PHRASE

Complex Noun Phrase

Premodifier Head Postmodifier

Ex: new restaurant in the town

 1. THE HEAD

Main part, around which the other component

clusters of the noun phrase. It dictates concord and
other kinds of congruence with the rest of the
sentence outside the noun phrase.

The pretty girl standing in the corner ….. is ...

The pretty girls standing in the corner ….. are ...

 2. THE PREMODIFICATION

The premodification, which

comprises all the items placed
before the head, notably adjectives,
nouns.

Adjective modifier: a special project, a small house, the new model,...

Noun as premodifier: the police report, the bus strike,..

 3. THE POST MODIFICATION

Prepositional phrase: the

The Post Modification,
comprising all the items
placed after the head,
notably prepositional
phrases, non-finite clauses,
relative clauses.
girl in the corner…
Non-finite clauses: the girl
standing in the corner
Relative clauses: the girl who
stand in the corner
 II
RESTRICTIVE & NON-
RESTRICTIVE
 1. RESTRICTIVE

A restrictive modification restricts or defines the

meaning of a noun phrase and provides necessary
information about the noun in the sentence.

The student who sits in the back of the room asks a lot of questions.

The results that I obtained may invoke positive social change.

 2. NON-RESTRICTIVE

A nonrestrictive modification adds additional information

to a noun phrase. A nonrestrictive modification is also
known as a non-essential for identifying the head.
It is usually a proper noun or a common noun.

Ex:
- I want to thank my father, Mark Smith, for all of his love and support.
- The hypothesis, which I tested throughout the research, was rejected.
Exercise: Say which of the underlined noun modifiers are
restrictive (a) or non restrictive (b).

1. My poor old mother suffers from arthritis.

(b) (b)

2. Her devoted elder daughter takes care of her.

(a) (b)

3. Where did you get that beautiful carpet in the hall?

(b) (a)

4. I often see men who went to school with me.

(a)
 IIi
PREMODIFICATION
 Types of premodifying item

1 Premodification by adjective

2 Premodification by participle

3 Premodification by genitive

4 Premodification by noun

5
Premodification by adverbial
6 Premodification by sentence
1. PREMODIFICATION BY ADJECTIVE
When a premodifying adjective is the first item
after the determiner
Example 1: His really quite unbelievable beautiful
Example house
Example 2: A house which is so beautiful
->Such a beautiful house/ So beautiful a house
I visited his beautiful
house There is resistance also to transferring clause
negation to a structure of premodification, and
this is possible only in limited circumstances
Example: The dinner was not very pleasant
->The not very pleasant dinner
2. PREMODIFICATION BY PARTICIPLE

Example:

A smiling person always looks

good

The painted car costs 80 million

dollars
2.1. -ing participles
Everything here depends on the potentiality of the participle to indicate a
permanent or characteristic feature. To a lesser extent, gradability (especially as
indicated through intensification by very) is involved
Example: She has a very interesting mind
>< Her mind interests me very much

However, an item can be a premodifier and yet disallow very

Example: The man was very reassuring
->He was a reassuring man

With the “permanence” characteristic, participles can freely premodify nouns such
as look, smile
Example: He greeted me with a very reassuring expression
2.1. -ing participle

It is thus necessary to realize that we are not here concerned with

particular participles so much as with their contextual meaning.

Example: “A wandering minstrel” is one habitually given to

wandering, but if we saw a man wandering down the street, we
could not say “Who is the wandering man?”
 2.1. -ing participle

While the indefinite article favors the habitual or permanent, the definite
article favors the specific or temporary.
Example: “The approaching train is from Liverpool ‘’

On the other hand, after an indefinite head has been postmodified by -ing
clause, the -ing participle can premodify the same head plus definite article:
Example: A proposal offending many members …
->The offending proposal …

In addition, the definite article may be used generically and hence evoke the
same generality and permanence as the indefinite
Example: The beginning student should be given every encouragement
 2.2. -ed participles

Much of what has been said of

-ing participles applied to -ed There are some additional
participles complications
SOME ADDITIONAL COMPLICATIONS

The -ed participle can be active or passive

but as with post modification, the active is
rarely used in premodification and contrast.
 EXCEPTIONS

NOTE

The immigrant who has arrived with The
arrived immigrant; The treasure which has
vanished
->The newly-arrived immigrant or Our
recently-departed friend
Example: Some complicated machinery
# The machinery was complicated by the
designer
SOME ADDITIONAL APPLICATIONS
Most -ed participles are of the agential type and naturally only a few will easily admit the
permanent reference that will permit premodifying use.
Example: The wanted man was last seen in Cambridge (The man goes on being wanted by the
police)
The found purse was returned to its owner (The purse was found at a particular moment)

However, there are exceptions which suggest that the semantic and aspectual factors are
more complicated than here describes.

Modifiers in -ed may be directly denominal and not participles at all

Example: the valued roof, a fluted pillar, a wooded hillside
But constraints occur -> there is no powered engine, a haired girl,…though we have a
diesel-powered engine, a red-haired girl,…
3. PREMODIFICATION BY GENITIVE

Example: I visited his fisherman’s cottage

(The cottage belonged to a fisherman)

If we have used a more normal genitive example, we would have

changed the relationship of his
 4. 5. 6.
PREMODIFICA PREMODIFICA PREMODIFICA
TION BY TION BY TION BY
NOUNS ADVERBIAL SENTENCE

Mai visited her far-away I visited his pop-down-for-the-

I’m going to my country house
(My house is in the country)
hometown
weekend cottage
(Her hometown is far-away)
(His cottage is ideal to pop down to
for the weekend)
 Iv
POSTMODIFICATION
 POSTMODIFICATION

Post-modification comprises all the elements placed after the head of

the noun phrase
Ex: Trump eyes ‘four or five’ people who may be behind anonymous
NYT article.
Head noun Post-modification
 TYPE OF POSTMODIFICATION

1
Postmodification by non-finite clause

2
Postmodification by finite clause

3
Premodification by Prepositional phrase
 Non-finite clause

“Non-finite clauses contain a verb which does not show tense”

(dictionary.cambridge.org)

Ex: I had something to eat before leaving. (I had something to eat before I left.)

-ing participle
clause

Non-
-ed participle
finite clause
clause

Infinitive clause
 Non-finite clause
-ing participle clause
Ex: “Perdue: USDA will look into immigrants dropping from nutrition program.”
(Politico, July 9, 2018)
-ed participle clauses
Ex: The soldiers wounded in Vietnam war asked for compensation.
-infinitive clause
“An infinitive clause is a subordinate clause whose verb is in
the infinitive form, also known as a to-infinitive clause”
(thoughtco.com)
Ex: “Gang curfews and distrust: Inside the quest to find separated, deported parents.”
(CNN Politics, September 7, 2018)
 Finite clause

“Finite clause must contain a verb which shows tense.”

(dictionary.cambridge.org)

Finite
Clause

Appositive
Relative Clause
clause

Restrictive Non-restrictive
relative clause relative clause
 Finite clause
Relative
● The particle: that (which, who,..) is an
element in the structure
● The head noun post modified by relative
clause can be of any kind
● Define the head or add information to the
head
Ex: “3 magazine article that changed the world”
(Readly Stories, June 19, 2018).
Appostive
● The particle that is not an element in the
structure
● Head noun must be abstract noun
● Express the contain of the head noun
Ex: The fact that he is not on the land of alive
people makes her depressed.
 Finite clause
Restrictive Non-restrictive

● Identify the head noun ● Add more information to the head

● Be omitted
● Not be omitted ● Put between commas
● Not put between commas ● Pause after head noun
● No pause is made in speech

Ex: People who have been drinking should not drive

=> This is a restrictive clause which identifies the people who should not drive.

John, who has been drinking, should not drive.

=> The person referred to is identified by his name (John), so “who has been drinking” is non-restrictive
and is set off from the rest of the sentence by commas.
 EXERCISE

Decide whether it is restrictive relative clause or non-restrictive relative clause

A. The architect who designed this villa doesn’t live here
B. Her friend who arrived last night is from Las Vegas
C. Ernest Hemingway, who wrote “The old man and the sea”, won Nobel prize for literature.

Answer:
D. Restrictive
E. Restrictive
F. Nonrestrictive
 Prepositional phrase
“A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a preposition, its object, and any words
that modify the object.”
(grammarly.com)

Ex: The book on the table belongs to Jack.

prepositional phrase

A man from Britain who I was talking about last night

prepositional phrase relative clause

 V
Premodification and post
modification in comparison
PREMODIFICATION AND POSTMODIFICATION IN COMPARISON

PRE POST
MODIFICATION MODIFICATION

1. Position Comes before the noun Comes after the noun

it modifies it modifies

2. Adjective Adjectives Adjective phrases

Example: The pretty cat won Example: The bike that has
a competition white flag was stolen last
week

3.Participle Participle Participle phrases

Example: A roaring bull Example: The man standing
there
PREMODIFICATION AND POSTMODIFICATION IN COMPARISON

PRE POST
MODIFICATION MODIFICATION

4. Prepositional phrase X
Example: The dog behind the
fence is very fierce

5. Infinitve X
Example: I’m confused to decide
the shirt to buy

6. Non-finite clause X
Example: The cat lying on the
ground has the white fur
Exercise: Change the form of the phrases below so that the postmodifiers
become premodifier
1. A house that has been built well
-> a well built house
2. The article which was mentioned above
-> above-mentioned article
3. An improvement that is needed badly
-> badly-needed improvement
4. A secret that has been kept closely
-> closely-kept secret
5. Wealth that has never been told
-> untold wealth
6. Cruelty such as we have never heard of before
-> unheard cruelty
7. Central heating fired by oil
-> oil-fired central heating
8. Girls with blue eyes
-> blue-eyed girls
Exercise: Convert each of the phrases below by using the pattern head + postmodifying
phrase
Example: The cupboard door -> The door of cupboard

1.Water supply
-> supply of water
2.A motor-bus service
-> service of motor-buses
3.Repaired personnel
-> personal engaged in doing repairs
4.The life science
-> science about lifes
5.Fish protein production
-> production of protein derived from fish
The usages of complex noun phrase in
commercial contract
 b
The usages of complex noun phrase in
commercial contract
 Common noun phrase in commercial contract

1. Acceptance of good
Head + Post modification (prepositional phrase)

2. Approved list
Premodification(Adj) + Head

3. Bid conditioning
Premodification (N) + Head

4. Certificate of compliance
Head + Post modification (prepositional phrase)
 Common noun phrase in commercial contract

1. Contract notice
Premodification (N) + Head

2. Facilities management
Premodification (N) + Head

3. Framework agreements
Premodification (N) + Head

4. Letter of credit
Head + Post modification
Thanks you!
Does anyone have any questions?

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