SENTENCES AND NOUN PHRASES

A sentence always has a subject (a noun) and a predicate (a verb), and sometimes you need
another noun after the verb. In a more strict sense, we can say that a sentence is composed
by a noun phrase (subject) and a verb phrase (predicate), and sometimes you need another
noun phrase after the verb (that functions as the object of the verb).

A noun phrase can be just a single word (a noun), or a group of words that are also known as
noun groups (that include one or more nouns). Noun groups can be really complex structures,
and they are widely used in both scientific and technical writing. For this reason, we will
emphasize their study in this section. Let’s begin with a very simple example:
 Anthrax is a disease.
In this sentence, “anthrax” is a noun phrase that acts as the subject, and “a disease” is another
noun phrase that acts as the object (of the verb “to be”). But if we want to know what anthrax
really is, we will need a much longer sentence:
 Anthrax is a serious infectious disease that is caused by a large, aerobic, spore-
forming, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis.

The underlined expression is a long noun phrase. So noun phrases can be really complex, as
they are full of words (adjectives, determinants, one or more nouns, prepositions, etc.) that
give information about a main noun, which is called the head noun. When dealing with a long
noun phrase, the first and most important thing to do is to identify its head noun. Usually the
head noun is before a preposition such as at, between, by, for, from, in, of, off, on, over, to,
with, etc.; or a relative pronoun such as: as, how, that, what, when, where, who, whose, why.
In the example above (the long noun phrase), the head noun is the word “disease”, because it
is placed before the relative pronoun “that”.
Let’s see another example:
 The doctor prescribed a new treatment that should improve my health.
In this case, we have two noun phrases, a short one (the doctor) and a long one (a new
treatment that should improve my health). The head noun for the short noun phrase is
“doctor”; the head noun for the long one is “treatment”, which is placed just before the
relative pronoun “that”. Next we have two detailed examples:

A noun phrase is composed by a head noun and its modifiers:

pre-modifiers and post-modifiers.

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Pre-modifiers
The head noun in a noun phrase can be pre-modified by a determiner. A determiner is a word
that establishes and sets limits to a noun. It appears before any descriptive adjective and gives
the context that a noun has. A determiner can be an article (a, an, the), a demonstrative word
(this, that, these, those), a possessive adjective (my, your, his, her, its, our, their), a numeral
(one, two, three), an ordinal number (first, second), or a quantifier (any, some, many, much).
The head noun can also be pre-modified by a past participle, an adjective, an adjective
compound, another noun, a gerund; or by several of these elements.

Adjective compounds
Adjective compounds are usually made up by two words (sometimes may be more) linked by a
hyphen that works as an adjective. In this cases, they affect the noun that is immediately after
them:
 Cash-transfer problems.
 Some short-term assets.
 A specially-prepared clay.

Post-modifiers
Nouns can be post-modified by:
 An adjective clause (relative clause): the various agencies that regulate public health.
 A prepositional phrase: the standard technique for making transgenic animals.
 A past participle clause: the first mammals cloned from cultured cells.

Relative clauses (adjective clauses)

Nouns can be post-modified by clauses of time, place, manner and reason:
 This is the place where we work.
 Those were the months when we worked the most.
 That was the way as we used to work.
 These are the reasons why we work here.

The gerund
A gerund is a noun formed from a verb. It has several grammatical functions:
 Noun: A better understanding of the cloning problems.
 Pre-modifier: Some major cloning problems.
 Post-modifier: the problems affecting cloning.

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The gerund as a post-modifier
In the some cases, it works as a relative pronoun plus a verb (that + verb):
 The problems affecting cloning.
 People living on less than $1 a day.
These two noun phrases may be replaced by:
 The problems that affect cloning.
 People that live on less than $1 a day.

Using present participles and past participles as adjectives in noun phrases

Using the present participle (verb + ing) as an adjective:
Adjectives that are formed with -ing frequently indicate a certain action that is performed by the
noun or occurs to the noun:
 Grinding machine: machine that crushes substances into small bits
 Recording mechanism: device that records sound
 Refining process: process that purifies metals
 Revolving platform: a stand or surface that turns

Using the past participle (verb + ed) as an adjective:

Adjectives that are formed with -ed frequently indicate a completed action:
 Dehydrated plant: plant that has dried up
 Magnetized rock: rock that has been made into a magnet
 Diffused light: light that is spread out
 Cauterized wound: wound that has been deadened by burning or searing

Many verbs can form either -ing or -ed adjectives. Look at this example of the adjectives diluting
and diluted, which are formed from the verb to dilute:
 To dilute: to weaken or thin with water or another liquid
 Diluting agent: agent or substance that dilutes or thins a liquid
 Diluted solution: solution or liquid that has been diluted or weakened
Ref: Zimmerman F. English for Science.

ACTIVITY 1
Select the letter of the answer (a or b) that properly completes each one of the sentences below.
1. A substance that combines metals with oxygen is an a .
a. oxidizing agent b. oxidized agent
2. Water that has been purified is .
a. distilling water b. distilled water
3. A nucleus that is in the process of breaking apart is .
a. disintegrating nucleus b. disintegrated nucleus
4. A device that has been adjusted for errors is a .
a. calibrating instrument b. calibrated instrument
5. A device that adjusts other instruments is a .
a. calibrating instrument b. calibrated instrument
6. A gas that has been reduced in volume by pressure is a .
a. compressing gas b. compressed gas
7. A bar that attaches one moving part of a machine to another is a .
a. connecting rod b. connected rod
8. A base that makes an acid neutral is a .
a. neutralizing agent b. neutralized agent

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 9. A wire that is covered with a nonconductor is an .
a. isolating wire b. isolated wire
10. Calcium that has been converted into ions is .
a. ionizing calcium b. ionized calcium
Ref: Zimmerman F. English for Science.

Forming Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are used very frequently in technical or scientific writing. A compound noun
is a combination of two or more nouns, such as air conditioner or water vapor. In a compound
noun the last noun is usually more important. The other words act as adjectives. For example,
a car key is a type of key, a pressure gauge is a gauge used to measure pressure.
Note that in compound nouns, all nouns are used in there singular from. For example, “cancer
of the lungs” becomes “lung cancer”.
Ref: Zimmerman F. English for Science.

ACTIVITY 2
Change each of these phrases into a compound noun.
1. reaction of chemicals 6. preservative of food
2. displacement of water 7. migration of birds
3. compression of air 8. processor of words
4. pump for fuel 9. rain that contains acid
5. density of gas 10. an addict of drugs

Notice that when a noun is modified by an adjective and another noun, the adjective always
comes first. For example, we say a used machine tool.
Ref: Zimmerman F. English for Science.

ACTIVITY 3
Change each of these groups of words to a compound form.
1. Container of oil that is large
2. Pollution of the air that is excessive
3. Pressure of blood that is high
4. Defect that occurs at birth and is serious
5. Device for the detection of radiation that is powerful
Ref: Zimmerman F. English for Science.

ACTIVITY 4
Change each of these groups of words to a compound form.
1. A pool where people can swim that is large.
2. A machine to wash that costs a lot of money.
3. Machines to mow the lawn that make a lot of noise because they were made a long
time ago.
4. A device to brew coffee that is at high temperature.
5. A person who makes shoes and is friendly with everybody.
6. The country that is the most recognized in the world for its coffee production.
7. A machine to gather the cotton crop that is not really efficient.
8. Coffee trees that were recently planted in Colombia.
9. Tanks used to ferment coffee that are filled with water and that are large.
10. An oven to roast peanuts that was made at home and that is very efficient.

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ACTIVITY 5
Give the English equivalent of these noun phrases.
1. Agentes quimioterapéuticos de tercera generación usados frecuentemente en el
tratamiento del cáncer pulmonar avanzado.
2. Efecto de las exacerbaciones sobre la calidad de vida en pacientes con enfermedad
pulmonar obstructiva crónica moderada.
3. Infección bacteriana del tracto respiratorio inferior en un paciente con una condición
cardíaca pre-existente desconocida.
4. Complicaciones infecciosas relacionadas con la radiación y neumonitis inducida por
drogas después de radioterapia y quimioterapia para cáncer de mama.
5. Un estudio longitudinal de catorce meses para investigar diferencias en infecciones
orales en pacientes con diabetes tipo 2 bien controlada.

ANSWER KEY

ACTIVITY 1
Select the letter of the answer (a or b) that properly completes each one of the sentences below.
1. A substance that combines metals with oxygen is an a .
a. oxidizing agent b. oxidized agent
2. Water that has been purified is b .
a. distilling water b. distilled water
3. A nucleus that is in the process of breaking apart is a .
a. disintegrating nucleus b. disintegrated nucleus
4. A device that has been adjusted for errors is a b .
a. calibrating instrument b. calibrated instrument
5. A device that adjusts other instruments is a a .
a. calibrating instrument b. calibrated instrument
6. A gas that has been reduced in volume by pressure is a b .
a. compressing gas b. compressed gas
7. A bar that attaches one moving part of a machine to another is a a .
a. connecting rod b. connected rod
8. A base that makes an acid neutral is a a .
a. neutralizing agent b. neutralized agent
9. A wire that is covered with a nonconductor is an b .
10. Calcium that has been converted into ions is b .
a. ionizing calcium b. ionized calcium

ACTIVITY 2
Change each one of these phrases into a compound noun.

1. reaction of chemicals: 1. preservative of food:

chemical reaction food preservative
1. displacement of water: 2. migration of birds:
water displacement bird migration
2. compression of air: 3. processor of words:
air compression word processor
3. pump for fuel: 4. rain that contains acid:
fuel pump acid rain
4. density of gas: 5. an addict of drugs:
gas densitiy drug addict

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ACTIVITY 3
1. A large oil container.
2. Excessive air pollution.
3. High blood pressure.
4. A serious birth defect.
5. A powerful radiation detection device.

ACTIVITY 4
Change each of these groups of words to a compound form.
1. A pool where people can swim that is large (A large swimming pool)
2. A machine to wash that costs a lot of money (An expensive washing machine)
3. Machines to mow the lawn that make a lot of noise because they were made a long
time ago (An old noisy lawnmower)
4. A device to brew coffee that is at high temperature (A hot coffee brewer)
5. A person who makes shoes and is friendly with everybody (A very friendly shoemaker)
6. The country that is the most recognized in the world for its coffee production (The
world's best-known coffee-producing country)
7. A machine to gather the cotton crop that is not really efficient. (An inefficient
mechanical cotton picker/harvester)
8. Coffee trees that were recently planted in Colombia (The newly planted Colombian
coffee trees)
9. Tanks used to ferment coffee that are filled with water and that are large (Large,
water-filled fermentation tanks)
10. An oven to roast peanuts that was made at home and that is very efficient (A high-
performance home-made peanut roasting oven)

ACTIVITY 5
Give the English equivalent of these noun phrases.
1. Third-generation chemotherapeutic agents frequently used in the treatment of advanced
lung cancer.
2. Effect of exacerbations on quality of life in patients with moderate chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease.
3. Bacterial infection of the lower respiratory tract in a patient with an unknown pre-existing
heart condition.
4. Radiation-related infectious complications and drug-induced pneumonitis after breast
cancer radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
5. A fourteen-month longitudinal study to investigate differences in oral infections in patients
with well-controlled type 2 diabetes.

Luis A. Saldarriaga B.
Profesor de Inglés (English ESP) - Universidad del Valle (2002 - 2014).
Cali, julio 08 de 2014.