Grammar Study - Noun Phrase

Improve your use of grammar by understanding what a noun phrase is.


A noun phrase is one of the many types of phrase.It is a one where the main word is a noun or a pronoun.
It is very common and the most frequently occuring phrase type.

Ten (10) Noun Phrases

1. The good woman
2. The broken botle
3. Pretty ladies
4. The  garden
5. My Sister
6. The manager of the firm
7. The poor driver
8. The newspaper vendor
9. An application letter
10. The zonal officer

Features Of A Noun Phrase

1.The begining of a noun phrase can be premodified by articles,possessives,demonstratives,adjectives or a combination of two more of these.

Examples

• An apple
• A bag
• The boy(premodified by articles)

• My mother
• Your bag
• Their cousin(all premodified by possessives)

• Handsome boys
• Small finger
• Big lorries (all premodified by adjectives)

• Those books
• That girl
• This car(all premodified by demonstratives)

• The big ugly goat 
• A tall rude boy(premodified by articles and adjectives)

2.The begining of a noun phrase can be premodified by adjectives,prepositional phrases or clauses

Examples 

• The girl in the classroom
• The house of the president(premodified by prepositional phrase)
• The girl who talks a lot.
• The man I told you about(postmodified by a clause)

3.It could also be an infinitive phrase

Examples

• The desire to dance well
• The boy to beat.

Functions Of A Noun Phrase

1.Subject of a Verb

This is noted when a noun phrase makes up the initial part of a sentence

Examples

• The tall ugly boy is rude ( Subject of the verb 'is')
• The beautiful girl comes here everyday (Subject of the verb 'comes')

2.As The Object of The Verb

When a noun phrase comes after a verb, it functions as the object of the verb.

Examples

• The girl bought a mango (Object of the verb 'bought')
• I gave Bimbo the money (The money is the object of the verb 'give')

3.As A Subject complement

This is noted when a noun phrase is the same thing as the subject ot tells more about the subject.

Examples

• My brother is an engineer (The 'engineer' is the same person as my 'brother')
• Peter is a student (;Peter' is the same person as the 'student')

4.As An Object Complement
When a noun phrase directly follows the direct object in a sentence, it serves as the object's complement.

Examples

• Your cousins named their son 'Bright' (complement of the word 'son')
• The masses elected you 'President' (compliment of the word 'you')

5.Object of A Preposition

When a noun phrase occurs after a preposition, then it functions as the object of the preposition.

Examples

• The boy put the book under his bag (compliment of the preposition 'under')
• The nice girl in the garden is my sister (compliment of the preposition 'in')

Did You Know ? 

A Noun Phrase is also called a nominal phrase.

That will be all for now! Catch you next week!