A phrase is a group of words acting as a single part of speech and not containing both a
subject and a verb. It is a part of a sentence, and does not express a complete
thought. Phrases combine together and make sentences. Consider the following example:
Daud loves cricket. He supports Islamabad United.
Here, the personal pronoun he replaces the noun Daud. But consider this sentence:
The young boy loves cricket. He supports Islamabad United.
In this case, he replaces the entire sequence the young. This is not a noun – it is a
noun phrase. We call it a noun phrase for two reasons. Firstly because it’s central
word – boy – is a noun. Secondly, a more solid reason is that a pronoun can be
used to replace a noun phrase and that these words collectively function as a noun
and form the subject of sentence.
You are already familiar with the idea of noun, verb, adjective, adverb and
preposition. A noun phrase is a group of words doing the function of a noun.
Similarly a verb phrase is group of words doing the function of a verb and so on.
A ‘phrase’ can consist of just one word, the main word alone. For instance, we say that
both greedy and very greedy are adjective phrases. This is because the same rules apply
to adjectives and adjective phrases. Instead of saying each time ‘adjective or adjective
phrase’, it is simpler to say ‘adjective phrase’, and thereby include adjectives as well. So
when we talk about phrases, keep in mind that they may consist of just one word.
1 Noun Phrase
A noun phrase consists of a noun and other related words (usually modifiers and
determiners) which modify the noun. It functions like a noun in a sentence.
A noun phrase consists of a noun as the head word and other words (usually modifiers
and determiners) which come after or before the noun. The whole phrase works as a noun
in a sentence. The words that come before noun in a noun phrase are determiners and
Pre-modifiers, while the words that come after the noun are called post-modifiers.
A determiner is most commonly found in the beginning of noun phrase when it acts as
the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
The book
A newspaper
Your ideas
That car
Pre-modifiers in a noun phrase occur before the noun, and after any determiners which
may be present. Pre-modifiers are usually adjectives.
Example
The old book
Your foolish ideas
A young child
Post-modifiers in a noun phrase occur after the noun, and are most commonly
prepositional phrases.
Examples
a piece of cheese
the house on the hill
the coat with the brown collar
Noun Phrase =Determiner+ noun + modifiers (the modifiers can be pre or post)
Examples: He is wearing a nice red shirt. (As noun/object) She brought a glass full of water. (As noun/object) The boy with brown hair is laughing. (As noun/subject) A man on the roof was shouting. (As noun/subject) A sentence can also contain more noun phrases. For example: The girl with blue eyes bought a beautiful chair. A noun phrase performs all the functions that a noun can perform. It can act as subject of sentence, as object of verb, and as indirect object of verb. Activity Pick out the Noun Phrases in the following sentences:- i. His father wished to speak to the Headmaster. ii. The wicked vizier loves getting people into trouble. iii. The poor debtor intended to pay back every penny of the money. iv. He dislikes having to punish his servants. Horses prefer living in dark stables.
You are already familiar with the idea of noun, verb, adjective, adverb and
preposition. A noun phrase is a group of words doing the function of a noun.
Similarly a verb phrase is group of words doing the function of a verb and so on.
A ‘phrase’ can consist of just one word, the main word alone. For instance, we say that
both greedy and very greedy are adjective phrases. This is because the same rules apply
to adjectives and adjective phrases. Instead of saying each time ‘adjective or adjective
phrase’, it is simpler to say ‘adjective phrase’, and thereby include adjectives as well. So
when we talk about phrases, keep in mind that they may consist of just one word.
1 Noun Phrase
A noun phrase consists of a noun and other related words (usually modifiers and
determiners) which modify the noun. It functions like a noun in a sentence.
A noun phrase consists of a noun as the head word and other words (usually modifiers
and determiners) which come after or before the noun. The whole phrase works as a noun
in a sentence. The words that come before noun in a noun phrase are determiners and
Pre-modifiers, while the words that come after the noun are called post-modifiers.
A determiner is most commonly found in the beginning of noun phrase when it acts as
the subject of the sentence.
Examples:
The book
A newspaper
Your ideas
That car
Pre-modifiers in a noun phrase occur before the noun, and after any determiners which
may be present. Pre-modifiers are usually adjectives.
Example
The old book
Your foolish ideas
A young child
Post-modifiers in a noun phrase occur after the noun, and are most commonly
prepositional phrases.
Examples
a piece of cheese
the house on the hill
the coat with the brown collar
Noun Phrase =Determiner+ noun + modifiers (the modifiers can be pre or post)
Examples: He is wearing a nice red shirt. (As noun/object) She brought a glass full of water. (As noun/object) The boy with brown hair is laughing. (As noun/subject) A man on the roof was shouting. (As noun/subject) A sentence can also contain more noun phrases. For example: The girl with blue eyes bought a beautiful chair. A noun phrase performs all the functions that a noun can perform. It can act as subject of sentence, as object of verb, and as indirect object of verb. Activity Pick out the Noun Phrases in the following sentences:- i. His father wished to speak to the Headmaster. ii. The wicked vizier loves getting people into trouble. iii. The poor debtor intended to pay back every penny of the money. iv. He dislikes having to punish his servants. Horses prefer living in dark stables.
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