Noun Phrases Eng II Noun phrases are any

Noun Phrases Eng II

Noun phrases are… • any head noun and the articles and adjectives that modify that noun. • Head nouns are the main nouns of phrases. (Sometimes it is easiest to find each of the head nouns to find each noun phrase. )

Noun phrases act as… subjects, objects of the preposition, direct objects, indirect objects, subject complements and object complements.

How to determine a complete noun phrase • An entire noun phrase can be replaced by the pronoun “it” (also “she, they”) • Noun phrases can exist within other noun phrases.

Examples • The girl who won the state championship finished as runner-up this year. • Can be replaced by she: • She finished as runner-up this year.

Examples • The girl who won the state championship finished as runner-up this year. • Can be replaced by it: • The girl who won it finished as runner-up this year.

Examples • The girl who won the state championship finished as runner-up this year. • Can be replaced by it: • The girl who won the state championship finished as it this year.

Why is this year not a noun phrase? • The girl who won the state championship finished as runner-up this year. • Consider this: • The girl who won the state championship finished as runner-up it.

Noun phrases as subjects • Noun phrases function as subjects when they answer the question: “Who are what did the verbing? ” • The man with brown hair went to the store. • Who went to the store? The man with brown hair.

Noun phrases as direct objects • A noun phrase functions as the direct object when it directly receives the action of the verb. • I ate the cookies with chocolate chips. • Who or what was being eaten? The cookies with chocolate chips.

Noun phrases as objects of the preposition • A noun phrase functions an object of the preposition when it follows a preposition and is part of a prepositional phrase. • She took her bonnet to the new hat shop.

Noun phrases as indirect objects • A noun phrase functions as an indirect object when it indirectly receives the action of the verb. • I bought Peter a new hat. • You gave the dog water.

Noun phrases as subject complements • A noun phrase functions as a subject complement when it describes the subject of a sentence. • Obama is President of the United States. • I am a teacher and runner.

Noun phrases as object complements • A noun phrase functions as an object complement when it describes an object (direct object, object of prep, etc. ). • The American people have elected Barack Obama president. • My coworkers often call our boss an idiot.