Questions tagged [noun-phrases]

Phrases which, as a unit, act as a noun; and whose heads are nouns or pronouns. English noun phrases can include (among many other possibilities) articles or determiners such as "the" and "a" and one or more adjectives or other nouns used attributively followed by the head noun itself.

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Do Temporal Adjuncts Function as External Adjuncts in a Noun Phrase, or Is This Another Grammatical Construct?

In certain pieces often written by journalists and others in the publishing profession, I have come across phrases like the one below (my own example): Tinker Hatfield, today a legend of the Nike ...
MJ Ada's user avatar
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3 answers
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Possessive case with who(m)ever in an object noun phrase

Disclaimer The question put forward as the pretext for mine's closure does not answer my question at all—that question contains “who(m)ever” in a clause acting as an object, which I have no trouble ...
lil' barbussy's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
108 views

Understanding something vs. understanding 'of' something? [duplicate]

"Understanding something" or "understanding of something"? Is there a general rule? Or does it depend on the context? If it is context dependent, what about this sentence: ...
Tomas's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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How to use adverbial phrases with season/year?

Time adverbial phrases seem very confusing. Google doesn’t show any past questions on this. I’d like to ask how I should write a sentence with a temporal phrase indicating season and year: [subject] [...
desmo's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
80 views

Modifiers denoting colour, provenance, and composition in a fused-head noun phrases

In section 9.3 Fusion of internal modifier and head, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 417) says: (d) Modifiers denoting colour, provenance, and composition [25] i Henrietta likes ...
JK2's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
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I met a man the other day who says he knows you

(1) I met a man the other day who says he knows you. H&P's CGEL (Page 1066) shows this sentence in a subsection called Postposing of relative clause, which starts like this: It is also possible, ...
JK2's user avatar
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What is the more precise name for the noun-phrase 'The Native' / 'The American'? [duplicate]

Been having a nightmare with this: in a phrase such as 'The native knows all this, and laughs to himself every time he spots an allusion to the animal world in the other's words' (Franz Fanon), or '...
LPEnglish's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
69 views

A Specific Instance of Me (object) vs. I (subject)

I was just crafting an email. The sentence was similar to this: You are hereby invited to the Pristine Medal Ceremony, an event which will result in Anthony and me becoming knighted, and receiving ...
bubbleking's user avatar
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0 answers
27 views

Correct form of this sentence

What would be the correct form of the verb in this sentence? They all have a noun clause a the subject followed by to be. What you can do is playing with them. What you can do is to play with them. ...
Shahroq's user avatar
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2 answers
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What word or phrase do you use for not doing something that you intended to do because subconsciously you did not want to do it?

What noun or noun phrase do you use for not doing something that you intended to do because subconsciously you did not want to do it? In speech it is called 'a Freudian slip'. (Merriam Webster online ...
user58319's user avatar
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“The difficulty is we need” vs. “The difficulty is ᴛʜᴀᴛ we need”

Is there a right or wrong answer in the following construction? Am I missing a more elegant way to say this? The main difficulty in the hiring process is we need a fluent French speaker that also ...
fourierwho's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
120 views

She ended up (being??) a rich woman

Somehow they all ended up at my house. ("end up" + prepositional phrase) Well, grades ended up to be unimportant after all as my first job after graduating ended up in a private school with ...
Mr. X's user avatar
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1 answer
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‘to start’ and ‘to starting’, prefaced by ‘key’

I have the following two example sentences: X is the key to starting their communication. X is the key to start their communication. E.g. Patience is the key to starting their communication. Which is ...
1687737's user avatar
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18 views

Plural in connection with an "and" and "a mess": "This pull request and merge is a mess" [duplicate]

I wonder if the sentence "This pull request and merge is a mess" has a correct grammar. "pull request and merge" are two words so the verb should possibly be in plural for "...
Finn Årup Nielsen's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
137 views

Quantifiers realised by a noun?

Let's consider the following sentence: He drank [a glass of hot milk]. Here the brackated element is a Noun Phrase (NP). The head noun is glass. My question is can it be classified as a quantifier?
Man_From_India's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
153 views

Multi-layer prepositional phrase

I am having trouble picturing the structure of this preposition phrase from the point of view of generative syntax (PP) My attempt to run it down goes like this: from (preposition) + the point of ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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Should it be "Late policy" or "lateness policy"?

I am writing a paper that discusses different policies for accepting assignments after the nominal deadlines. Should I refer to it as a "late policy" or "lateness policy"? Here is ...
Ellen Spertus's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
44 views

Are the maximal noun phrases found by this code incorrect?

I was reading the accepted answer to this question on natural language processing In there an english sentence is given: "Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of computer science, ...
Sidharth Ghoshal's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
81 views

Noun phrases with prepositions and appositions

In this sentence : Later on, experience the otherworldly feel of one of the “Most Beautiful Villages in France”, Riquewihr. Is there a relation between the 2 noun phrases the “Most Beautiful ...
Stephane's user avatar
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0 answers
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A noun phrase vs a question (what vs how)

Let's consider two phrases: What makes work efficient How to say 'Hello' in Chinese The first one can either be a noun phrase (What makes work efficient is careful preparation) or a question (What ...
Daniel's user avatar
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4 answers
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Can we ever use "that" and "who" right next to each other?

I’ve learned that we can use that to provide more information for abstract nouns, such as problem, belief, etc. I don’t quite understand what that means, though, so let me try it out. For example, ...
gra's user avatar
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0 answers
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'People living overseas' 'People who live overseas'

In the two noun phrases, 'People living overseas' 'People who live overseas', is there any difference in meaning?
Woodland's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
98 views

Are nominal adjectives and fused-head noun phrases just two different explanations for the same thing?

Are nominal adjectives and fused-head noun phrase (e.g. "the poor") just two different ways of describing the same thing, or is one considered a subset of the other, or are they different ...
tangosquared's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
169 views

When a noun phrase can act as the post-modifier?

According to Oxford Learner's Grammar by John Eastwood [ISBN:0-19-437-597-8], page 187; it is possible for a noun phrase to act as a postmodifier of the head noun. Example: The weather that day was ...
Marat Pussurmanov's user avatar
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0 answers
63 views

Make sure you invite Jill herself(,) <too> [The syntactic function of 'too' and usage of comma]

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Pages 438-9) has this: An NP may contain more than one peripheral modifier, with multiple layers of embedding: [8] i Make sure you invite [Jill herself ...
JK2's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Why does "to keep someone posted" mean "to keep someone updated"?

What's the logic behind the meaning of the above phrase?
Harshit's user avatar
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1 answer
56 views

Noun phrase involving "of", plural or singular

I feel that the singular form should be correct, but I'm not sure: "The thickness of papers IS .." "The thickness of papers ARE .." By the way, will it change the result, if we use another noun ...
Emrah Kaya's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
57 views

What does 'spook credentials' mean?

I've encountered this expression on the book "UNIX: A History and a Memoir". One day I was scheduled to do a demo for William Colby, who at the time was the director of the Central Intelligence ...
Felipe1979's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

the company failure to comply vs the company's failure

I got into an argument with a British native speaker over the following phrase: 'the company failure to comply with its contractual obligations' I'm a non-native speaker, therefore I can't be quite ...
QriS's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
271 views

Identifying the antecedent of an integrated(restrictive) relative clause

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language has this (Page 1061): In [11], CGEL doesn't analyze the determiner no as part of the antecedent of the relative clause. Let's compare [11] with [11a] and ...
JK2's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
206 views

Confusion determining the type of phrase

According to CLIFFS Toefl preparation guide written by Pyle and Page.. A noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun. According to this definition the highlighted phrase in the ...
Russell's user avatar
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1 answer
149 views

What are the criteria for allowing repeated bare NPs in coordinate structures?

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Pages 409-410): 8.5 Restricted non-referential interpretations of bare NPs [...] This time, however, our concern is with bare NPs. We confine our ...
JK2's user avatar
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6 votes
0 answers
258 views

Is there an alternative modern approach to the fused-head noun phrase?

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 410) defines "Fused-head NPs" as follows: Fused-head NPs (noun phrases) are those where the head is combined with a dependent function ...
JK2's user avatar
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9 votes
2 answers
556 views

The traditional grammar term for 'nominals'

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 329) has a section titled 'Nominals': Intermediate between the noun and the NP we recognise a category of nominals: [3] a. the old man b. that book ...
JK2's user avatar
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4 votes
2 answers
436 views

Is 'president' in 'run for president' a bare role noun phrase?

A Student's Introduction to English Grammar says: A bare role NP is a singular NP that is ‘bare’ in the sense of lacking the determiner which would elsewhere be required, and that denotes some kind ...
listeneva's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
79 views

The way which you should hold them

The Cambridge Grammar of the english Language, page 224, reads Complements are most often NPs, and conversely NPs are usually complements. Some NPs can occur with adjunct function, but they tend ...
GJC's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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A small sliver of moon rock

In the following sentences, does 'small' function as an adverb or an adjective? Visitors will be astounded at the amazing exhibits; one of these is a small sliver of moon rock that visitors are ...
GLP's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
177 views

Noun phrases + Colons + SemiColons

Given: John was causing obstruction: the act of preventing passage or progress. or The doctor said: "you need medical attention". What do the constituents of these phrases look like? Given that ...
John's user avatar
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0 answers
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Noun phrases and which/where

does a noun phrase followed by a 'which' or 'where' clause form another noun phrase? example 1: *The fast car which fly's In this case, does 'The fast car which fly's' form a noun phase? My ...
John's user avatar
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1 vote
1 answer
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Prepositions and Noun Phrases

does a noun phrase followed by a prepositional phrase form another noun phrase? Example: The road to hell 'The road' and 'hell' form two separate noun phrases. Does, 'The road to hell' ...
John's user avatar
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-4 votes
1 answer
137 views

Is it really correct to say that some nouns are countable and others are uncountable?

It is generally accepted practice in linguistics that common nouns are classified into count nouns (aka, countable nouns) and non-count nouns (aka, uncountable nouns or mass nouns). For example, in ...
JK2's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
1k views

You two are shallow. [fused-head noun phrase?]

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 410) defines "Fused-head NPs (noun phrases)" as follows: Fused-head NPs are those where the head is combined with a dependent function ...
JK2's user avatar
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-2 votes
2 answers
216 views

When does a fused-head NP require a definite determiner?

In section 9.3 Fusion of internal modifier and head, The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (Page 417) says: (d) Modifiers denoting colour, provenance, and composition [25] i Henrietta likes ...
JK2's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
845 views

'Us students' - Does this apposition need a comma?

Can a pronoun be used in apposition without comma? A few of us students have participated in the match. This sentence looks quite awkward at first glance. Is this sentence gramatically correct? I ...
Riddle Aaron's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
4k views

How to analyze "dearly beloved"?

I'm curious about the phrase “dearly beloved”. – It looks to me to be a phrase consisting of an adverb (dearly) modifying a noun (beloved). But I thought adverbs could only modify verbs or adjectives? ...
zrajm's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
233 views

Categorial grammar, Is 'leg' an adjective in 'skipping leg days'

I am working on CCG (combinatory categorial grammar), which assigns categories to words. So I was wondering if 'leg' is adjective, or just another noun in the phrase "skipping leg days". Or is "leg ...
Karavana's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
728 views

How the west was won - Is this a noun phrase?

I'm trying to determine what the following types of phrases (in bold within the sentences below) would be called. I want to say they're noun phrases, but I may be wrong. To me, these resolve to ...
bubbleking's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
420 views

‘Dog issue’: a compound or a noun phrase?

I’m so confused of the following expression: ‘the hot dog issue’. The dialogue is following: A: Have you heard of the hot dog issue? B: Yes, I have. These days, the dog’s euthanasia problem is very ...
Jin's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
852 views

Noun clause (singular all the time?)

I have asked one grammarian about this and she ended up being unsure of her answer. Question: is there a possibility that a noun clause is used in a plural manner? For instance: - Her eyes and nose ...
Fadli Sheikh's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
143 views

Can a sentence have no verb except in what would otherwise be its noun phrase?

Can a sentence have no verb except in what would otherwise be its noun phrase? e.g. The car in the street I walk down. I'm guessing that "the street I walk down" would be the noun phrase, and it ...
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