Noun phrases

Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

People like to have money.
I am tired.

Premodifiers

But noun phrases can also include:

• determiners:        Those houses are very expensive.
• quantifiers:          I've lived in a lot of houses.
• numbers:            My brother owns two houses.
• adjectives:          I love old houses.      

These parts of the noun phrase are called premodifiers because they go before the noun.

We use premodifiers in this order:

determiners and quantifiers

>

numbers

>

adjectives + NOUNS

For example:

Determiners and quantifiers	Numbers	Adjectives	NOUNS
The	six		children
Our		young	children
	Six	young	children
These	six	young	children
Some		young	children
All those	six	young	children
Their many		young	children

Premodifiers 1

Premodifiers 2

Premodifiers 3

Postmodifiers

Other parts of a noun phrase go after the noun. These are called postmodifiers.

Postmodifiers can be:

• prepositional phrases:

a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner

• –ing phrases :

the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela

• relative clauses :

the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

• that clauses. These are very common after nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:

He's still very fit, in spite of the fact that he's over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn't like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.

• to infinitives :

I've got no decent shoes to wear.

These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
 

There may be more than one postmodifier:

an eight-year old boy with a gun   who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there   in a green dress   drinking a Coke

Forming Fuller Ideas

No matter their form or function, noun phrases form fuller ideas. Instead of just talking about a dog, you can add an adjective to that noun and discuss a spotted dog. Instead of just saying they walked into the sunset, you can describe the scene with his laughter ringing through the air. You'll find many writers like to make use of noun phrases. It allows them to paint pictures, including a red-faced woman who found herself in an uncomfortable position.

 

Further reading and activities: 

 https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/noun-phrases

 https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/nouns/noun-phrases.html