NOUN PHRASE

NOUN PHRASE

 A noun phrase is a group of words that does the work of a noun. A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun. 

Example : 'they', 'bicycles', and 'the bicycles' are noun phrases, but 'bicycle' is just a noun, as you can see in these sentences (in which the noun phrases are all in italics)

Q: Do you like bicycles?
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the bicycles over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the bicycle I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the bicycle', not 'bicycle')

THE FUNCTION OF NOUN PHRASES:

• Subject

Ex : The children play on the forest.

• Object

Ex : My mother buys a basket of vegetables.

• Complement

Ex : Calgary is a rainy location.

KINDS OF NOUN PHRASES :
a. Noun + Noun, example : Office boy
b. Verb + Noun, example : Take a bath
c. Gerund + Noun, example : Throwing ball
d. Pronoun + Noun, example : My bag
e. Adjective + Noun, example : White board
f. Determiner + Noun, example : A pencil

STRUCTURES OF NOUN PHRASES –

     1)      NOUN PHRASE à pre-modifiers + noun

a.       White house ; here white is a premodifier and house is a noun.

b.      The three old Democratic legislators ; here the three old Democratic is premodifier and legislators is a noun.

     2)      NOUN PHRASE à noun + post-modifiers.

     (The most common post-modifier is prepositional phrases).
               a. The glass on the table ; here on the table is the post-modifier
               b. The boy in the store ; here in the store is the post-modifier.

     3)      NOUN PHRASE à pre-modifier + noun + post-modifier.

     The noun together with all pre- and post-modifiers constitutes a single unit, a noun phrase  that  indicates  the complete reference.

a.       The boys on top of the house are ...... here The is the pre-modifier, boys is the noun, on top of the house is the post-modifier.