UNIT III

Major English
phrase types
Noun phrases

• Previously, we looked at nouns as a word class.

• But when we want to study texts and analyse sentences

(for example, to identify subjects and objects), we need
to recognise a larger unit: the noun phrase.
Noun phrases cont…

• A noun phrase is a noun and all the words that ‘go’ with it.
• It can consist of just a noun:
• Money is bad for you.
• People are strange.
• London is a fantastic place.
• And a pronoun can also function as a noun phrase:
• She is my best friend.
• But usually there is more than one word.
Noun phrases cont…
DETERMINER PREMODIFIER HEAD POSTMODIFIER
all the tall girls with red hair
 Heads

• The head is the central part of a noun phrase; it is the only part
which is obligatory, though if it is a singular count noun, there
must be a determiner with it: a table or that table, not simply
‘table’.
• Heads are usually nouns, but can sometimes be adjectives (the
poor);
• The head is the word that changes for number.
• It agrees with the determiner and any following verb (if the noun
phrase is the subject).
Premodifiers

• The function of premodifiers is to add information about the head

noun; to ‘modify’ or limit its meaning.
• So the reference of red roses and science students is more restricted
than that of roses and students.
• Typically premodifiers consist of one or more adjectives:
Eg big business; small change; a beautiful, red dress
However, nouns are also common:
• a newspaper reporter; a paper cutter; climate change.
• When a noun is used as a premodifier, it can be related to a noun phrase
with a postmodifying prepositional phrase: a reporter for a newspaper.
• There is no absolute limit to the number of premodifiers in one noun phrase:
• the great big British breakfast tradition
• It is also possible to show an object–verb relationship by using a hyphen in a
• compound premodifier:
• Eg a flesh-eating virus, a power-sharing agreement (‘an agreement to share
power’)
• But for more complex structural relationships with a noun phrase a
postmodifier must be used.
 Postmodifiers

• The postmodifier position is where extensive and complex

information about the head is given.
• It can consist of: a prepositional phrase:
• Eg the woman in a long dress
• a friend of the director
• It can also consist of an adjective phrase:
• Eg: a man capable of anything
 Postmodifiers cont…
• It can also be a clause, especially a relative clause:
• Eg: a decision which was greeted with surprise

• It can also be a non-finite clause:

• Eg a memorial dedicated to the victims
• It can also be an an adverb:
• Eg the first time around
• a long way back
 Postmodifiers cont…
• Postmodification with prepositional phrases is the most common type.
• There is a special type of postmodification where the preposition is
determined by the noun, and the prepositional phrase is seen as necessary
to complete its meaning.
• Examples:
• I have great admiration for her.
• This isn’t the solution to our problem.
• It affected his relationship with his children.
• They expressed surprise at the announcement.
• There is a widespread belief in reincarnation.
 Postmodifiers cont…
• Such prepositional phrases are sometimes called ‘complements’.
• Many such nouns are typically used with one particular preposition.
• For example, it would be strange to use a different preposition with
belief.
• This use should not be confused with prepositional phrases that are
independent of the noun
• e.g. This is a widespread belief in government circles.
 Postmodifiers cont…
• Combinations involving more than one of the above types of
postmodification are possible.
• In such cases noun phrases can become extremely long:
• a man in a red overcoat who was holding a gun in his left hand.
• Here the noun phrase, whose head is man, contains several other noun
phrases:
• a red overcoat, a gun, and his left hand, all with their own head nouns.
• This is the concept of recursion. Sentences may be composed of very
long noun phrases involving several instances of such recursion.
 Apposition
• Another type of postmodification is ‘apposition’.
• This is where a noun phrase is placed next to another to show a
relationship of identity. (Clauses can also be used
• in apposition to a noun phrase)
• This is particularly common with a proper noun followed by a
description or explanation of it:
• EG Malcolm Fox , the boy’s father , was delighted.
• For almost a hundred years after her death, Emma Hamilton (1765–
1815), Nelson’s celebrated mistress , was airbrushed from the official
record.
 Determiners

• Determiners are a closed word class.

• They are words which come first in the noun phrase
and which ‘determine’ the noun.
• By ‘determine’ we mean that they show what kind of
reference the noun has; this tree (the one near me) as
opposed to that tree (the one near you) or a tree (one
you do not know about).
Determiners cont…

• The reason why they come first in the noun

phrase is that they specify the most general
features of nouns such as their nearness to the
speaker/listener, their definiteness, their
ownership, their quantity, etc.
• Determiners thus allow nouns to have a
potentially unlimited number of referents, to be
re-used continually.
 Classes of determiners

Determiners can be divided into a number of separate

sub-classes:
a) demonstratives: this, that, these, those
b) possessives: my, your, his, her, its, our, their
c) articles: the (definite), a/an (indefinite)
d) interrogatives: which, what, whose (Whose money
was stolen?)
Classes of determiners cont…
e) relatives: whose (the boy whose money was stolen
f ) wh-ever words: whatever, whichever (Whatever
choice you make will be wrong.)
g) quantifiers: all, any, both, each, either, enough,
every, few, little, much, many, no, several, some
h) personal pronouns: us, we, you (‘you people’).
• It is not always easy to decide which words are
determiners.
• There are several classes of words whose status as
determiners is debatable, numerals (numbers) in
particular.
• In fact, there are two classes of numerals:
 Two classes of numerals
• a) the cardinal numerals: one, two, three, etc. These
seem to be most like quantifiers since they can
function as determiners
• (e.g. two friends) and pronouns (e.g. two (of them)
are coming);
• b) the ordinal numerals: first, second, third, etc. plus
next and last. They are also preceded by definite
determiners: the second week
• Some cases where two determiners occur together need to be
treated as single determiners.
• This applies to a few and a little, as their grammar shows:
• eg a few drinks (a is otherwise not possible before a plural head
noun)
• a little money (a is not possible before a noncount noun)
Number and agreement with
nouns
• With determiners it is important to know which type of noun they go
with.
• Some pairs of quantifiers are distinguished according to whether they
‘agree with’ plural count or noncount nouns:
• Eg many chairs vs much furniture
• few loaves vs little bread.
• Demonstratives, on the other hand, have a straightforward
singular/plural distinction:
• this/that chair/furniture
• these/those chairs.
Number and agreement with
nouns cont…
• Some as a quantifier is used with both plural count and noncount
nouns
• Eg some coins
• some money
• It can also be used with singular count nouns:
• Eg Some woman was looking for you.
• Here it is not a quantifier referring to a vague or unknown number or
quantity, but
• indicating an unknown individual.
Number and agreement with
nouns cont…
• Some quantifiers are semantically plural but grammatically singular:
each, every, many a.
• The distinction in meaning between each, every and all is particularly
subtle.
• All three are used to refer to the total members of a group, but are
different in their number agreement
• all goes with plural nouns:
• Eg All children have fears.
• Each/every child has fears.
Two Types of NPs
• In English there are two main types of NPs: simple NPs and partitive
NPs
• Examples of simple Noun phrases
a. some objections
b. most students
c. all students
d. much worry
e. many students
f. neither cars
Two Types of NPs cont…
Examples of Partitive Noun Phrases
a. some of the objections
b. most of the students
c. all of the students
d. much of her worry
e. many of the students
f. neither of the cars
Two Types of NPs cont…
• As in the examples in the above slides, the partitive
phrases have the quantifiers followed by of NP phrase,
designating a set out of which certain individuals are
selected.
• A partitive noun phrase is a noun phrase that
expresses a part or a subset of a larger whole.
• Typically consists of a quantifies or a determiner
Two Types of NPs cont…
• We classify partitive NPs into two types based on the agreement
facts.
• In Type I, the number value of the partitive phrase depends on the
preceding head noun, whereas in Type II, the number value depends
• on the head noun inside of the of -NP phrase.
Two Types of NPs cont…
Type I:
a. Each of the suggestions is acceptable.
b. Neither of the cars has air conditioning.
c. None of these men wants to be president.
Two Types of NPs cont…
Type II:
a. Most of the fruit is rotten.
b. Most of the children are here.
c. Some of the soup needs more salt.
d. Some of the diners need menus.
e. All of the land belongs to the government.
f. All of these cars belong to me.
Gerundive construction
• A gerund construction is a phrase where a verb ending in "-ing" is
used as a noun.
• For example, in the sentence "Swimming is good exercise,"
"swimming" is a gerund that functions as the subject of the sentence.
• When a gerund is used in a sentence, the verb in this form should be
singular because the gerund itself is treated as a singular noun.
• Even though gerunds are formed from verbs, they act as nouns in a
sentence, and nouns in English are generally singular in form.
Gerundive construction cont…
• For example:
• - "Swimming is my favorite hobby." (Here, "swimming" is a gerund
acting as the subject of the sentence, and the verb "is" agrees with it
in singular form.)
• - "Running long distances requires endurance." (In this sentence,
"running" is a gerund that functions as the subject of the sentence,
and the verb "requires" is singular to match the singular subject.)
Gerundive construction cont…
• So, when using gerunds in a sentence, it is important
to remember that they act as singular nouns, and
therefore, the verb that accompanies them should
also be singular to maintain subject-verb agreement.
Gerundive construction cont…
• The key difference between a gerund and a gerund phrase is:

• A gerund is a single word formed from a verb by adding "-ing" and

used as a noun.
• For example:
• Swimming is my favorite hobby.
• Reading helps improve vocabulary.
• In these examples, "swimming" and "reading" are the gerunds.
Gerundive construction cont…
• A gerund phrase, on the other hand, is a longer construction that
includes the gerund plus additional modifiers or objects.
• A gerund phrase functions as a single noun in the sentence.
• For example:
• Swimming in the ocean is exhilarating.
• Reading classic literature during the summer is relaxing.
• In these examples, "swimming in the ocean" and "reading classic
literature during the summer" are the gerund phrases.
• They include the gerund plus additional words that modify or
complement the gerund.
Gerundive construction cont…
• Gerund phrase is a multi-word noun construction built
around a gerund.
• It serves as a noun in a sentence and the gerund phrase
provides more detail and context around the action
expressed by the gerund.
THE END
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