Noun
phrases are phrases that capacity syntactically as nouns inside sentences, for
instance as the subject or object of a verb. Most noun phrases have a noun as
their head.
An
English noun phrases commonly takes the accompanying structure (not all
components need be available):
Determiner + Pre-modifiers
+ Noun + Post modifiers/Complement
In this structure:
* The
determiner
may be an article (the, a, an) or other equivalent word,
as described in the following section. In numerous contexts it is needed for a noun
phrase to incorporate some determiner.
* A
Pre-modifiers
incorporate adjectives and some adjective phrases (such as red, really lovely), and
noun adjuncts (such as college in the phrase the
college student). Adjectival modifiers generally come before noun
adjuncts.
* A
complement
or post
modifier may be a prepositional phrase (.... of London), a
relative clause (like ....which
we saw yesterday), certain adjective or participial phrases (....sitting
on the beach), or a dependent clause or infinitive phrase right to the noun (like .... that the world is round after a noun such as fact
or statement,
or ....
to travel widely after a noun such as desire).
A
sample of a noun phrase that incorporates all of the aforementioned components is
that
rather attractive young college student to whom you were talking. Here that
is the determiner, rather attractive and young are
adjectival pre-modifiers, college is a noun adjunct, student is the noun serving as the head
of the phrase, and to whom you were talking
is a post-modifier (a relative clause in this situation). Notice the order of
the pre-modifiers; the determiner that must come first and the noun adjunct
college must come after the adjectival modifiers.
Coordinating
conjunctions such as and, or, and but can be used at
various levels in noun phrases, as in Paul ,John, and Mary; the matching green
coat and hat; a dangerous but exciting ride; a person sitting down or standing
up.
Noun
phrases can likewise be set in apposition (where two consecutive phrases refer
to the same thing), as in that president, Abraham Lincoln,
....(where that president and Abraham Lincoln are in apposition). In a few
settings the same might be communicated by a prepositional phrase, as in the
twin curses of famine and pestilence (meaning “the twin curses” that is
“famine and pestilence”).
Particular forms of
noun phrases include:
* Phrases
framed by the determiner the with an adjective, as in the English,
the homeless (these are plural phrases referring to homeless people or
English people in general);
* Phrases
with a pronoun rather than a noun as the head;
* Phrases
comprising simply of a possessive;
* Infinitive
and gerund phrases, in certain positions;
* Certain
clauses, such as that clauses and relative clauses like what he said, in certain
positions.
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