Noun Phrase


Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun

People like to have money.
I am tired.


Premodifiers

Determiners
Those houses are very expensive.

Quantifiers
I've lived in a lot of houses.

Numbers
My brother owns two houses.

Adjectives
I love old houses.

These parts of the noun phrase are called premodifiers because they go before the noun.


We use premodifiers in this order

determiners and quantifiers → numbers → adjectives → nouns



Postmodifiers

Other parts of a noun phrase go after the noun.
These are called postmodifiers.
Postmodifiers can be


prepositional phrases
a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner


ing phrases
the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela


relative clauses
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop


That clauses. These are very common after nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion

He's still very fit, in spite of the fact that he's over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn't like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.


to infinitives
I've got no decent shoes to wear.


These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.


There may be more than one postmodifier

an eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a Coke
More Lessons ➧ Here


About Blossomings

Blossomings is an educational platform dedicated to providing high-quality learning materials, worksheets, and structured lessons for learners worldwide.
Our goal is to make learning simple, engaging, and accessible for everyone.



© Blossomings | Free Learning Resources