English noun phrase

In English grammar, a noun phrase has three components:

• The head

  is the hub, the center of attraction (as it were) of the noun phrase; it is the noun or pronoun around which the other parts gather together.^[1] The head determines concord with the portion of the sentence outside the noun phrase.^[1] Thus:

  • The change in the Asian economies is unprecedented.
  • The changes in Japan's economy are most unexpected.
• Premodification

  consists of all the words placed before the head. These words are usually determiners, adjectives and nouns.^[2] Thus:

Example	Determiner	Adjective	Adjective phrase	Noun	Head
That sophisticated city woman	That	sophisticated		city	woman
Many honest down-and-out small-town businessmen	Many	honest	down-and-out	small-town	businessmen

• Postmodification

  comprises words in the noun phrase that follow the head. These words usually consist of prepositional phrases, nonfinite clauses, and relative clauses.^[2] Thus:

Example	Postmodification	Category
The talkative man in the center of the room	in the center of the room	prepositional phrase
All the women walking on the bike path	walking on the bike path	non-finite clause
The house that I purchased for my third husband	that I purchased for my third husband	restrictive relative clause
The house, which my partner and I bought a month after we met	which my partner and I bought a month after we met	non-restrictive relative clause

There can also be adjectival post-modification:

• Corruption aplenty ("aplenty" (adjective); corruption (head)). Thus: Corruption aplenty, in every unsurprising form, graced the occasion.

• Apposition

A related concept is apposition, a construction usually involving two noun phrases that refer to the same entity (noun or pronoun).^[2] Examples:

Example	First sentence	Second sentence	Entity
That president, Abraham Lincoln, lives in the hearts ...	That president,	, lives in the hearts ...	Abraham Lincoln
Her dog, sixteen years old and nearly blind with cataracts, greeted ...	Her dog,	, greeted ...	sixteen years old and nearly blind with cataracts
The book was written by Jane Doe, a pioneering seventeenth-century veterinarian.	The book was written by Jane Doe,	a pioneering seventeenth-century veterinarian.	Jane Doe

Although these examples are non-restrictive, apposition can be restrictive as well:^[2]

• The book is written by Jane Doe the local veterinarian.

Apposition can also take the form of a prepositional phrase:^[2]

• ... until the twin curses of famine and pestilence are lifted from the brows of mankind. (The "twin curses" are "famine and pestilence").

Contents 1 See also 2 Notes 3 References

See also

• English grammar
• Nominal group (language)

Notes

References

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• Carter, Ronald; McCarthy, Michael (2006). Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 984. ISBN 0521674395. 
• Chalker, Sylvia; Weiner, Edmund, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar. Oxford University Press. Pp. 464. ISBN 0192800876. 
• Greenbaum, Sidney (1996). Oxford English Grammar. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 672. ISBN 0198612508. 
• Greenbaum, Sidney; Quirk, Randolph (1990). A Student's Grammar of the English Language. Addison Wesley Publishing Company. Pp. 496. ISBN 0582059712. 
• Halliday, M. A. K.; (Revised by) Matthiessen, Christian M. I. M. (2004). An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 3rd. edition. London: Hodder Arnold. Pp. 700. ISBN 0340761679. 
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (1984). Introduction to the grammar of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Huddleston, Rodney D. (1988). English grammar: An outline. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K.; et al. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 1860. ISBN 0521431468. 
• Huddleston, Rodney D.; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2005). A student's introduction to English grammar. Cambridge University Press. Pp. 320. ISBN 0521612888. 
• Jespersen, Otto. (1909–1949). A modern English grammar on historical principles (Vols. 1-7). Heidelberg: C. Winter.
• Jesperson, Otto (1933). Essentials of English Grammar: 25th impression, 1987. London: Routledge. Pp. 400. ISBN 0415104408. 
• Koln, Martha J. (2006). Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects, 5th edition. Longman. Pp. 336. ISBN 0321397231. 
• Koln, Martha J.; Funk, Robert W. (2008). Understanding English Grammar (8th Edition). Longman. Pp. 453. ISBN 0205626904. 
• Morenberg, Max (2002). Doing Grammar, 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Pp. 352. ISBN 0195138406. 
• Quirk, Randolph; Greenbaum, Sidney; Leech, Geoffrey; Svartvik, Jan (1985). A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Harlow: Longman. Pp. 1779. ISBN 0582517346.