Noun Phrases
When we use nouns, we often use them with one or more other words to make a noun phrase.
A noun phrase is a group of words which acts just like a single noun in a sentence. All these sentences follow the same pattern:
| He | smiled. |
| The man | smiled. |
| The man in the big hat | smiled. |
| The man in the big white hat | smiled. |
| The old man in the big white hat | smiled. |
Very often we put a determiner in front of the noun to make a noun phrase:
And we often add adjectives to tell us more about the noun:
Form
The simplest pattern for a noun phrase is the noun standing alone:
Very often we use a determiner with a noun. Determiners are added to the front of the phrase:
We can add adjectives to a noun; they usually come before the noun:
We can put two nouns together; the first noun acts like an adjective and gives us more information about the second noun:
When we put two nouns together (apposition) to make a noun phrase we can use this pattern:
When the noun phrase has and then it is plu ral and takes a plural verb:
