UNIT 1 NOUN PHRASES

A noun phrase is a part of a sentence. It generally works as subject or complement. The

main word of each noun phrase is a NOUN, but this noun may be qualified either by an
adjective or by another noun.

Adjective + noun---- a red house

Determiner + noun --- That house…

 But sometimes we can use more complex expressions such as:

 Compound adjectives
 Nouns working as adjectives
 Prepositional structure
 and Participle clauses

1. A Compound adjectives

Sometimes we can form an adjective by adding –ed to a noun .

 A woman with red hair --- a red-haired woman.
 A sailor with one eye---- a one-eyed sailor.

Sometimes these adjectives can express quantity or measure; then we don´t use –ed but
the simple adjective and ALWAYS in singular.

 A girl who is ten ----- a ten-year-old girl

 A note of five pounds --- a five-pound note

1. B Compound nouns

Sometimes nouns work as adjectives and they form compound nouns in which one is
the main word and the other work as an adjective. This is called the noun as adjective
structure.
When we use a noun as an adjective, before another noun, the first noun usually has an
object relationship to the other noun. If we wrote a sentence or a longer phrase to
express the same idea, the first noun would be the object either of a verb or of a
preposition
 A sheep dog is a dog that looks after sheep.
 A chess board is a board for playing chess.
The first noun often classifies the second; it says what kind it is. A sheep dog is a kind
of dog. A mountain plant is a kind of plant.

There some of these nouns which are very common and both words are written
together: teacup, breakfast...
Some others are written with a hyphen: baby-sitter; make-up...
But there are no rules and most words are written separated.

1. C Preposition Structure
Sometimes the qualification comes after the noun and we can use an expression with a
preposition.
 The frame of a picture
 The muscles of my right leg
 A cup of tea
 A cheque for twenty pounds.

1. D Participle Clauses

Participles can also be used as adjectives. They give more information about the nouns
they are connected with. Participles used in this way can be put together with other
words to make adjectival participle clauses.
 Most of the people invited to the reception were old friends
 There is a girl wearing green trousers.
Present Participle Clauses are used only to talk about actions that happen around the
same time as the main verb.
 Can you see the girl dancing with your brother?
When there is a time difference between the actions of the two verbs, participles cannot
usually be used.
 Do you know anybody who has lost a cat?

NOTE. Because of this, perfect participles are not used in this kind of use.

EXERCISES ON GRAMMAR

1.- Make one sentence by combining the information in brackets into the base sentence.
Use the patterns above.

- He bought a house ( farm; eighty thousand pounds; three acres of land)

He bought an eighty-thousand farm house with three acres of land.
- A girl came into the room (twelve years old; She was wearing a clown´s outfit)
- I need some nails (six inches long; steel))
- Concorde is a plane (passengers; fastest in the world)
- Have you seen those knives? (swiss; army; gadgets for everything)
- She is a lecturer. (economics; Bristol University; much respected)
- We had a meal (four courses; two bottles of wine; splendid; less than fifteen
pounds)

2. - Rewrite the short sentences to form a longer one.

- I´m going on holiday. It will last for two weeks. It´ll be quite an adventure.
We´re going to drive through the Sahara Desert.
- The judge gave her a sentence. He sent her to prison for five years. She had
kidnapped a millionaire´s son.
- She is going to do a course. It will take three years. She´ll be studying modern
languages. It´s at Oxford University.
- Mercedes have brought out a new car. It´s a sports car. It has two doors. Its top
speed is 150 miles per hour.