Noun Phrases
What makes up a noun phrase?
The noun is the core, or the head, of the phrase. Everything else in the constituent describes or identifies the noun in some way.
Modifiers of a noun are ordinarily adjective, prepositional phrases, or relative clauses. But modifiers that identify instead of describe are called determiners. Click here for determiners.
The most common functions of a noun phrase are subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, and complement. A file with descriptions and examples of each function can be found below.
|
Noun phrases.doc Size : 19 Kb Type : doc |
The Tricky parts:
Verbal Noun: their meanings tend to be actions rather than things. They are build from verbs. There are two kinds of verbal nouns: gerunds and infinitives
Gerunds: Constructed from verb roots by adding the suffix -ing. Laughing, coughing, playing. A noun phrase with a gerund at the head is called a Gerundive Phrase. His laughing annoyed her. Laughing is the head noun, therefore this is a gerundive phrase. | Infinitives: Verbs with the word "to" (Syntactical marking) in front of them. to talk, to love, to run. A noun phrase with an infinitive as a head are called infinitival phrases. To give up now would be foolish. To give is the subject, therefore this is an infinitival phrase. |
