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Noun Phrase Tall Girl Words Headword Pronoun Consist

Topic The noun phrase
Source https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/the-noun-phrase_2
Section The noun phrase
Content

The noun phrase - Easy Learning Grammar

A noun phrase is a word or group of words that can function as the subject, the object, or the complement in a sentence.
The manager interviewed all the applicants on Tuesday.
Lydia was the successful applicant.
See
Direct and indirect objects
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/direct-and-indirect-objects
and
Complements
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/complements
for more information about these functions. A noun phrase must always contain a noun or a pronoun.
A noun phrase may consist of only one word. That word will be either a noun or a pronoun.
Mary left late.
She left late.
Cheese is expensive.
It is expensive.
A noun phrase may consist of more than one word. One of these words, a noun or a pronoun, is the headword. The other words describe or modify the headword.
the tall girl
the very tall girl
a strikingly beautiful girl
the tall girl with green eyes
Words that go before the headword are called premodifiers. A noun can be premodified by:
a determiner. See
Determiners
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/determiners
.
the girlthat boy
a spidersome rice
one or more adjectives. See
Determiners
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/determiners
,
The indefinite article
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/the-indefinite-article
,
The definite article
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/the-definite-article
,
Nouns used without a determiner
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/nouns-used-without-a-determiner
,
Demonstratives
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/demonstratives
,
Possessives
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/possessives
,
Quantifiers
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/quantifiers
,
Numbers
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/numbers
,
Distributives
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/distributives
,
Exclamatives
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/exclamatives
,
Noun phrases with several determiners
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/noun-phrases-with-several-determiners
,
Adjectives
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/adjectives
and
Comparison
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/comparison
.
tall girls
tall dark girls
tall dark handsome men
a number, another noun, or the present participle or past participle of a verb.
three days
the railway station buffet
an annoying habit
an overworked man
Words that go after the headword are called postmodifiers. A noun can be postmodified by:
a prepositional phrase (a noun phrase with a preposition in front of it).
the person in the corner
the view across the valley
the house opposite the church
creatures under the sea
a subordinate clause (usually one beginning with who, which or that). See
Subordination
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/subordination
.
All the women who had gathered there finally went away.
Milk that has been kept too long can go sour.
less commonly, certain adjectives. See
Determiners
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/determiners
.
the princess royal
the president elect
Personal pronouns are only rarely premodified or postmodified. See
Personal pronouns
https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/easy-learning/personal-pronouns
.
Silly me.
Poor old you.

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