Noun Phrases

Inglés profesional para la Salud 2

Miriam Quispe

9
 Noun phrases
Nouns Simple noun phrases
Nouns are often known as
Noun phrases are
‘naming words’ because
groups of words that
they can name people,
include a noun, and are
places and things.
part of a sentence.
The noun is the main
Sporty girl word in the phrase and
other words
(determiners) give
determiner noun information about it.
 Noun phrase

• A noun phrase includes

• a noun
• a person the black dog on the sofa
• place
• thing
• and the modifiers or determiners which distinguish it
 Noun phrase
• The noun dog acting as the subject in a sentence, for example,
does not indicate exactly which canine the writer considers
• But the entire noun phrases do: noun
• that dog is barking
• Aunt Audrey's dog is old modifier
• the dog on the sofa scratches
• the neighbor's dog that chases our cat is there
• the dog digging in the new flower bed needs training
 Modifiers
• Modifiers can come before or after the noun
• before
• girl
• beautiful girl
• after
• the shining
• the shining that dimminishes
 Modifiers before the noun

• Articles: • Adjectives:
• a dog
• that dog
• the dog
• baby dog
• Possessive nouns:
• Aunt Audrey's dog
• the spotted dog
• the neighbor's dog • Participles:
• the police officer's dog • the drooling dog
• Possessive pronouns: • the barking dog
• our dog
• the well trained
• her dog
• their dog
dog
 Modifiers after the noun

•Prepositional phrases: •Participle phrases:

•a dog on the loose •the dog whining for a treat
•the dog in the front seat •the dog clipped at the grooming
•the dog behind the fence salon
•Adjective clauses: •the dog walked daily
•the dog that chases cats •Infinitives:
•the dog that looks lost •the dog to catch
•the dog that won the •the dog to train
championship •the dog to adopt
 Modifiers after the noun

•He who was green with envy

•He = subject pronoun
• who was green with envy = modifier.
•Someone intelligent
• Someone = indefinite pronoun
• intelligent = modifier.
•some very important
• some = indefinite pronoun
• very important = modifier.
Forming noun phrases
 Adjectives for Effect
The adjectives we choose to expand the noun phrase can create very
different effects.
Example – the house

The house was bright and airy. The house was dark and gloomy.
 Adding Adjectives
Expanded noun phrases
Expanded noun phrases give
more detail than a simple noun
phrase.
The tall, sporty girl
determiner adjective noun
Simple noun phrases
You add adjectives after the
determiner to make an expanded
noun phrase
This adds extra detail about the
noun.
Determiners are placed
before the noun and help to
describe it.
 Adding Adjectives (example)
Noun cow

simple noun a cow

phrase
Noun
an
phrase
inquisitive
expanded
cow
by an
adjective
or two
 Autoevaluación

Noun hamburger

simple noun Many

phrase hamburgers
Noun phrase Many
expanded by delicious
an adjective hamburgers
or two

Many delicious
 Autoevaluación

Noun owl
simple noun
An owl
phrase
Noun phrase
expanded by A
an adjective mysterious
or two owl

An mysterious
 Autoevaluación
I. Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or phrase.
quite
Example: You are ............................ a nuisance.
a) rather
b) quite
c) much
We can use quite or rather before an article + singular
countable noun .
rather a success
Example: The film was ..........................................
d) rather a success
e) a rather success
f) rather success
We use rather before article + singular countable noun .
 Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or
phrase
(1) ...................................... a singer is he?
a) How much of a
b) How much
c) How much of
Before a singular countable noun we can use a
quantifier with of.
(2) I think he is .................................
d) a bit of a fool
e) bit of a fool
f) a bit fool
We can use a quantifier with of before a singular
countable noun .
 Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or
phrase
(3) It was ................................... than a party.
a) more of an informal meeting
b) more an informal meeting
c) more of informal meeting
(4) She is ................................ politician than an activist.
d) more of a
e) more a
f) more
 Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or
phrase
(5) He is .............................. an intellectual.
a) very much of
b) a lot of
c) very much
We can use a quantifier with “of” before a singular
countable noun . A lot is not used in the structure .
(6) ............................. do you want a holiday?
d) How much
e) How
f) How well
Questions about degree are asked with how much .
 Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or
phrase
(7) You made ................................ mistakes.
a) quite a few
b) rather lot
c) quite few
Quite a few has a similar meaning to rather a lot.
(8) We met ............................. people who spoke German.
d) rather few
e) rather little
f) very little
We use few with countable nouns; we use little with
uncountable noun .
 Fill in the blanks with an appropriate word or
phrase
(9) I ate ................................ meat.
a) quite too much
b) much too much
c) rather too much
Too much can be modified by much and rather.
(10) We do ............................. of business in China.
d) quite a lot
e) quite lot
f) much a lot
A lot can be modified by quite and rather.
 Answer key

1. How much of 6. How much

2. a bit of a fool 7. quite a few
3. more an informal 8. rather few
meeting 9. quite too much
4. more of a 10. quite a lot
5. very much of