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

pronoun. For example, 'they', 'cars', and 'the cars' are noun phrases, but 'car' is just a noun.

7 Classes and Types of Phrases

 Absolute Phrase. ...
 Appositive Phrase. ...
 Gerund Phrase. ...
 Infinitive Phrase. ...
 Noun Phrase. ...
 Participial Phrase. ...
 Prepositional Phrase.

A noun phrase is a group of two or more words that acts like a noun in a sentence. For
the word group to be a noun phrase, it must contain a noun and its modifiers.

A phrase that acts as a noun in a sentence is called a noun phrase. It consists of a noun and
other related words (usually determiners & modifiers) which modify the noun. The noun phrase
comprises a noun as the head-word and other related words (determiners & modifiers) may
come before or after the noun.

It is convenient for the purposes of discussion to distinguish three sorts of

noun phrases: (i) simple noun phrases, which contain only pronouns or nouns
plus simple modifiers like articles, adjectives, demonstratives, or numerals; (ii)
complex noun phrases, which contain more complex sorts of modifiers, like
genitive or possessive modifiers and relative clauses; and (iii) various sorts of
noun phrases which lack a head noun
A noun phrase must always contain a noun or a pronoun. A noun phrase may consist of only
one word. That word will be either a noun or a pronoun.
Components
A noun phrase consists of the central noun or pronoun and all its modifiers, including
determiners, adjectives, and adjective clauses.

Determiners always come first in the noun phrase. Determiners are required with
singular nouns. To speak about a singular noun generally, use an indefinite article (a or
an). To speak about a plural noun generally, do not use a determiner.

A noun phrase has two parts: a noun, and any modifiers connected to that noun. Most
often, these modifiers will be adjectives, articles, and prepositional phrases. The modifiers
may also be determiners.

a. Noun
A noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. All noun phrases will have core noun, with
modifiers connected to it.
Example
The pirate buried his treasure on an island for retirement
The four nouns in this sentence are a person, thing, place and idea, respectively.

b. Modifier – Article
There are only three articles in modern English: a, an, the. An article is always connected
to a noun, and so when one is used it is always part of a noun phrase.
Example 1
The river is deeper after it rains
In this example, the noun phrase contains a noun (‘river’) and an article (‘the’). The
noun phrase ‘the river’ is the subject of the sentence.

Example 2
An enormous tree stands on the riverbank
This noun phrase begins with the article ‘an’. The article is attached to the noun ‘tree’. In
between these two words is the adjective ‘enormous’. The article and the adjective are
both modifiers describing the noun in the noun phrase ‘an enormous tree’.

c. Modifier – Adjective
An adjective is a word that describes nouns or pronouns.
Example 1
The young puppy chased its tail
The adjective ‘young’ is describing ‘puppy’. The two words combine to make a noun
phrase, which is the subject of the sentence.

Example 2
Many people want to live quiet, peaceful lives
This noun phrase has two adjectives: ‘quiet’ and ‘peaceful’. Each adjective modifies the
noun ‘lives’. They describe what kind of lives people want.

d. Modifier – Prepositional Phrase

A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with an
object. They add details, such as where something is or when an event occurred.
Example 1
The box in the attic is full of memories
This noun phrase includes the prepositional phrase ‘in the attic’. It is giving us a detail
about the noun ‘box’ – where it is located. The noun phrase in this example is the
subject of the sentence.

Example 2
My little brother always feared monsters in the closet
The prepositional phrase ‘in the closet’ modifies (describes) the noun ‘monster’. The
noun and prepositional phrase combine to make the noun phrase ‘monsters in the
closet’.

e. Determiner
A determiner is a word that clarifies a noun. It is used to differentiate between similar
nouns. Determiners answer questions such as ‘Which one?’, ‘Whose?’, ‘How many?”,
or ‘How much?’
Example 1
Those people are so friendly!
The determiner ‘those’ tells us which people are friendly. The noun phrase ‘those
people’ is the subject of the sentence.

Example 2
Max gave a biscuit to your dog
In this sentence ‘your’ is clarifying to which dog Max gave a biscuit to. The noun phrase
‘your dog’ is the indirect objectof the sentence (see part 4 for more on indirect objects).
Example 3
All children should have access to a free education
The noun ‘children’ is modified by the determiner ‘all’. The determiner ‘all’ answers the
question ‘How many children?’ The noun phrase ‘all children’ is the subject of the
sentence.

A complex noun phrase contains more than one noun. The relation between the nouns is
either subordinative or coordinative. There are various types of subordinative complex noun
phrases: possessive, partitive and genitive. Coor- dinative noun phrases include comitative
constructions.
Types of Noun Phrase
a. Noun Phrase as a Subject
A subject is a noun that the sentence is about.

Example
Very few giant pandas remain in the wild
This sentence is clearly about the small number of wild Pandas, and so ‘very few giant
pandas’ is the subject of the sentence.

b. Noun Phrase as a Complement

A compliment re-states or gives more information about a noun. It always follows a
state-of-being verb (is, are, am, will be, was, were).

Example
A sailor’s best friend is a wide, open sea
The noun phrase ‘a wide, open sea’ gives us more information about the sailor’s best
friend, the sea. Therefore it acts as a complement to the noun phrase ‘best friend’.

c. Noun Phrase as a Direct Object

A direct object is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb.

Example
Grandma cooked a meal for ten people, even though there were only four of us
The verb in this sentence is ‘cooked’, and the object that is being cooked is ‘a meal.’
The rest of the phrase ‘for ten people’ creates a noun phrase that acts as a direct
object.

d. Noun Phrase as an Indirect Object

An indirect object receives the direct object.

Example
Trudy gave her hungry, crying baby a bottle
The noun phrase answers the question, “Who did Trudy give the bottle to?” The phrase
‘her hungry, crying baby’ is the indirect object because it receives the bottle (‘a bottle’ is
the direct object because it is receiving the action ‘gave’).

5. How to Write Noun Phrase

A noun phrase centers on a noun. But, that noun may be described by adding
modifiers, and adding modifiers to a noun creates a noun phrase. You will quickly note
that many nouns have articles (a, an, the) attached to them.

Example:

 Cats sleep a lot. (no noun phrase)

 The cat (article + noun)

 The fluffy, long-haired cat (article +adjectives + noun)
 The cat on top of the stool is sleeping. (article + noun + prepositional phrase)
Most big cats hunt at night. (determiner + adjective + noun)