Nouns Phrases

 

Welcome to Our Online English Grammar HELP! Student Handbook!

Today's activities concern nouns and pronouns. This lesson is for beginners and intermediate learners of English.

We begin with written activities.  You can print out the exercises below and complete them.

In our Library, under Podcasts, you can locate the lesson One, Two, Three Little Countable Nouns. You may want to review that lesson before you begin today with the exercises.

 

1-5 What Is a Noun Phrase?

What is a noun phrase?

What is a noun phrase? How is a noun phrase different from a noun?

The difference between a noun and a noun phrase can be seen in the difference between the (count) noun parents and the noun phrase many parents.

Another example would be the difference between the (noncount) noun luck and the noun phrase good luck.

As you can see, a noun is a single word, whereas a noun phrase includes the head noun and all the words that modify it.

In depth

     

What can a noun phrase include?

A noun phrase can include:

  • the articles (a, an, the)

  • quantifiers (many, most of, etc.)

  • possessive adjectives (my, your, etc.)

  • descriptive adjectives (beautiful, happy, etc.)

  • prepositional phrases (in India, etc.)

  • a relative (an adjective) clause

  • and more.

Placement in a Sentence

     

A noun phrase can exist as the subject of a sentence or as the object of the verb or preposition.

  • Many parents want the best for their children.
             subject                        object of the verb       object of the preposition

A relative clause can be part of a noun phrase, too.

  • People must always remember those who died in the war.

 You can build your own noun phrases. Have fun!


Many ________   parents ________  want the ______ best  for _______  their ________children.
 (descriptive adjective)    (where?)        (adverb intensifier)    (quantifier)     (descriptive adjective)
 
 

In our next lesson, we continue on to Plural Countable Nouns.

So from the ESL Help Desk, thanks for dropping by this week and remember to email us your questions about English grammar by sending your comments through our blog.

 

All material is copyrighted, Software for Students.  Copying for PERSONAL USE ONLY. All others must contact Software for Students for permission to use in schools or other educational institutions.