We often hear that noun phrases are important in English,
and students often tell me that they are interested in learning more about them.
So, in this video I’ll show you how to use noun phrases more effectively
and even improve your exam score in the process.
I’ll explain what a noun phrase is, how to create one, how to identify one, how to make sure your
sentences are grammatically correct with a long noun phrase and why they’re important.
Hello everyone, Anna here from EnglishLikeANative.co.uk
This lesson is going to get technical, so have your pen to hand, or download
the FREE PDF Worksheet that accompanies this lesson - link can be found in the description.
So, first of all, let’s define our terms.
What, exactly, is a noun phrase and why are they so important?
Put very simply, a noun phrase is a noun or pronoun and all the words that modify it.
You can add the modifiers before the noun… like
“The tall man is happy.”
In this sentence ‘the tall man’ is the noun phrase and ‘the’ and ‘tall’ are the modifiers.
Or you can put the modifiers after the noun.
“Could you pass me the pen that’s on the table, please?”
In this sentence ‘the pen that’s on the table’ is the noun phrase.
‘That’s on the table’ modifies ‘pen’ after the noun.
And, of course ‘the’ modifies ‘pen’ before it.
You could also replace ‘pen’ with the pronoun ‘one’ in this sentence, to have the same meaning.
“Can you pass me the one that’s on the table, please?”
The main noun/pronoun in this sentence is ‘pen’ or ‘one’.
Let’s look at a few more examples.
Take the sentence “Help me find my cat”.
‘My cat’ is already the noun phrase and it includes a noun,
‘cat’ and a possessive adjective which describes the noun, ‘my’.
Now let’s add some adjectives before the noun.
“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat.”
Now let’s add some more description after ‘cat’ - ‘with a red collar on her’.
By the way, this is called ‘a prepositional phrase’ because
we have the preposition ‘with’ followed by what is on the cat - ‘a red collar’.
We often find prepositional phrases in noun phrases.
We can add another prepositional phrase to describe the collar and
create an even longer noun phrase, like, ‘with a silver bell on it’.
So now the whole sentence is
“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat with a red collar with a silver bell on it on her.”
Hmmm wait… now there are two ‘withs’ and two ‘ons’.
That’s not great.
I’m going to change the first ‘with’ to ‘wearing’, then I can take away the ‘on her’ at the end.
So now the sentence reads
“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat wearing a red collar with a silver bell on it.”
Now my sentence gives a complete description, is precise, doesn’t
repeat words and uses a long noun phrase that will surely impress any examiner!
Writing is always about editing, after all, so it’s important to leave time in your exam so
you can think about ways to expand your noun phrases just as we have done here.
It can sometimes be difficult to determine if something is
a noun phrase or not, but here’s a simple trick.
If you can replace this part of the sentence with just one pronoun, it’s a noun phrase.
Let’s get back to our cat example, shall we?
In the sentence “Help me find my scruffy black and white cat wearing a red collar with a silver
bell on it.”, if we replace the noun phrase with ‘her’, it still makes sense – “Help me find her.”
So, then we know that ‘my scruffy black and white cat wearing a red
collar with a silver bell on it’ is a noun phrase.
This can help us in reading, to identify the subject or object of a sentence and when
completing the answers in the listening section to help us identify the correct grammar to use.
Ah, speaking of verb agreement, to determine the form of a verb to use,
we first need to determine the main noun in the phrase - sometimes called ‘the head noun’.
For example, “The tall man in the black car is my uncle.”
Can you guess what the head noun is in this sentence?
If you said ‘car’, I’m afraid you’re wrong, it’s ‘uncle’.
Now, let’s take the example,
“The tall men in the black car ____ my uncles.”
If we use the verb ‘to be’, which form should we use here? - ‘is’ or ‘are’?
Well, you may already know it’s ‘are’ because you know the head noun is ‘men’, not ‘car’.
So, the sentence is “The tall men in the car are my uncles.”
This is where many students make mistakes, because they look at the closest noun to
the verb, without looking at the WHOLE noun phrase and they try to match the
verb with that instead of making sure the verb agrees with the HEAD noun.
Let’s look at one more example, but before we do,
please take a second to give this video a like and click subscribe.
Now, which is correct?
“a) One of the important things has to be critical thinking.”
Or
“b) One of the most important things have to be critical thinking?”
It’s ‘a’. Even though we have ‘things’ and ‘has’ next to each other, we have to use the
third person singular form of the verb because the head noun in this phrase is ‘one’, not ‘things’.
- Erm, why is it important for learners to understand and use noun phrases correctly?
- Well, understanding noun phrase construction helps you to be more precise and descriptive.
Also, as in the example “The tall man in the black car is my uncle.”,
we use a noun phrase to put the important information at the beginning of the sentence
because we want to draw attention to the tall man in the black car.
The listener doesn’t know who my uncle is so I
have to describe him first before giving more information about him.
It also means that the grammar you use will be more accurate,
as we saw with correctly identifying the head noun.
This is useful for completing gap fill exercises that you might find
in the Listening and Reading papers on the IELTS exam and in Use of English in Cambridge exams.
In academic writing, these things are all really important.
The use of noun phrases also helps to make your writing impersonal,
which is important in exam tasks where you have to be more formal,
like IELTS writing Task 2 or Cambridge Advanced, parts 1 and 2.
Noun phrases can also help you score higher in the IELTS part 1 on the General Training exam by
adding more information - adjectives, adverbs or prepositional phrases to your sentences,
like when you are asked to describe a bag you left on a bus, for example.
You could say “Would it be possible to help me find my bag?” or you could modify
the noun and make the sentence more precise and descriptive.
“Would it be possible to help me find my small
green leather bag with all my work documents in it?”
‘Bag’ is still the head noun in this sentence,
but is modified by three adjectives before it and a preposition phrase after it.
This use of noun phrases is very common in English and will give
your examiner a good impression of your writing.
If you’d like a full video explaining
adjective word order or prepositional phrases, let me know in the comments!
Now it’s time for a quick quiz. Are you ready?
Look at the following noun phrases and pick the main noun or head noun in each phrase.
1. The small yellow children’s scissors on the corner of the dining table.
2. Several highly-paid top-level executives who have flown in from overseas.
3. The tendency toward over-valuing and under-performing sports teams.
The answers are:
1: scissors
Number 2: executives
Number 3: tendency
Now let’s try creating a sentence with these noun phrases. Which form of the verb is correct?
1. The small yellow children’s scissors on the corner of the
dining room table ____ there for my nieces and nephews to use.
2. Several highly-paid top-level executives who
have flown in from overseas ____ meeting in the boardroom all day.
3. The tendency toward over-valuing and under-performing sports teams ____
risen dramatically over the last few years.
Ok, if you need a little bit more time you can go back and just play those questions
again until you have the answers, but now I’m going to reveal the answers.
Number 1. The small yellow children’s scissors on the corner of the dining room table are
there for my nieces and nephews to use. Scissors is a noun which is always plural.
Number 2. Several highly-paid top-level executives who have flown in from overseas have
meetings in the boardroom all day or are having meetings in the boardroom all day.
Executives is a countable plural noun. Number 3.
The tendency toward over-valuing and under-performing sports teams
has risen dramatically over the last few years. Tendency is a singular noun.
How did you do?
Now for three more, Cambridge Use of English style questions.
You have to fill in the gap with 3 - 6 words to make the second sentence have
the same meaning as the first sentence. Oh, and use the word in brackets as part of your answer.
Here it goes.
1. There are few people in the world who are said to write as well as she can.
So, now, using the word ‘as’ you need to complete this sentence to mean the same as the first.
Few people worldwide can be called as good a writer ____________.
And the answer is: Few people worldwide can be called as good a writer as she is or as she can.
2. The team, who will be crowned all-state champions,
is going to parade down the main street next week.
You have to complete this sentence using the word ‘due’.
The soon-to-be-crowned all-state champions ______ parade down the main street next week.
And the answer is: The soon-to-be-crowned
all-state champions are due to parade down the main street next week.
3. The companies have grown in a way we did not foresee, which has greatly contributed
to reaching our targets for this quarter. You need to complete the sentence using ‘helped’.
This unforeseen ____________ us reach our targets for this quarter.
The answer is: This unforeseen growth has greatly/ or really
helped us reach our targets for this quarter.
I hope now that noun phrases and their uses and usefulness are clearer. Let
me know how many of the quiz answers you got right in the comments below!
Until next time, take care and goodbye.