When we see a noun as performing a

role in a sentence, we think of it as a

noun phrase.
A noun phrase may function as the
subject or object of a clause.
A noun phrase may consist of a single
word (a noun or pronoun) or a group of
words.
The most important noun in a noun
phrase is called the headword
 Example of noun phrases
(headword in bracket)

My old maths (teacher) was Austrian.

 Did you see what
happened to this noun?

My sporty red car with a sunroof

It’s just been expanded!!!

 Let’s see that again.

The mysterious woman in black

The original single word ‘woman’

has been expanded,
and this gives us more information.
The term noun phrase refers to
a group of words which act like a
noun.

Words can go before the noun

e.g. The great river
and/or after the noun.
e.g man of honour

They modify the meaning of the noun.

 Determiners
Nouns often have
e.g. a, the, that, my, your,
other words in
front of them. Adjectives
e.g. little, blue, silly
Verbs
e.g. a buzzing bee

Nouns, acting like adjectives

e.g. the lemonade bottle
 The girl with red hair was
Words which go
afraid of flying. She was
after a noun can
determined to overcome this
modify it too, e.g.
fear. Her aunt in America had
the kiss of death
invited her to stay and she
wanted to go. Fears like this can
See if you can spot be overcome, she decided.
any in this passage.
Did you spot these?
For now, we will refer to this string simply as
the pre-Head string.
A string of elements may also appear after the
Head, and we will call this the post-Head string:
[the small children in class 5]
So we have a basic three-part structure
pre-Head Head post-Head
string string
the small] children [in class 5

Of these three parts, only the Head is

obligatory. It is the only part which cannot be
omitted from the phrase.
let's omit each part in turn:

pre-Head head post-Head

string string

--] children [in class 5

the small]* -- [in class 5
the small] children [--
Pre-Head and post-Head strings can be omitted,
while leaving a complete noun phrase. We can
even omit the pre- and post-Head strings at the
same time, leaving only the Head

pre-Head Head post-Head

string string
--] children [--

This is still a complete noun phrase.

However, when the Head is omitted, we're left
with an incomplete phrase (*the small in class
five). This provides a useful method of
identifying the Head of a phrase. In general,
the Head is the only obligatory part of a
phrase.
 
: Under line noun phrase in each of the following sentences -1
The girl with red hair was afraid of flying. She was
determined to overcome this fear. Her aunt in America
had invited her to stay and she wanted to go. Fears like
.this can be overcome, she decided
Identify the Head in each of the following bracketed noun -2
: phrases
.Cats ( make very affectionate pets ( -1
...................................................................
. The editor ( rejected the manuscript ( -2
……………………………………………
. We drove through ) an enormous forest ( in Germany -3
..…………………………………………
. People who cycle ( get very wet ( -4
..…………………………………………
. ) We really enjoy ) the funny stories he tells -5
..…………………………………………
By : Eman Saeed Al-Zhrani
Direction :Shadia Banjar
 http//:www.somerset-secondarystrategy.org/displaydocs.php?id=type&301=public

http//:www.worldofteaching.com/powerpoints/english/nouns.ppt

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/phrases/np.htm