Chapter 4: The Noun Phrase

The Structure of a Noun Phrase

Noun Determiner + Modifiers + Noun Headword
an insightful and thought provoking remark
the laughing, smiling, sunny baby
some painfully annoying wisdom teeth
those rotten and terribly smelly athletic socks
her most challenging class
Noun Determiners
Four Categories of Noun Determiners
Articles:
a, an, the
Numbers (including words that impl numbers!:
none, one, two, three, four, some many, few, all, several, no, first,
second, third, another, each, both, any
Possessi"es:
my, your, his, her, its, our, their, ones, Hermans, Ritas, Sandys
#ther Noun Determiners:
this, that, these, those
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Noun Phrase Exercise A
Directions: n a separate sheet of paper, rewrite the free modifier
noun phrases for each, adding appropriate modifiers as the spaces
indicate! "rovide noun determiners as re#uired!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
%&ample:
$ %y the age of eighteen,
& he had clearly defined his future role,
$ the '''''''' rebel!
$ the sensiti"e rebel!
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
('! & (he teacher knew what to e)pect from the boy,
$ the '''''''' clown!
((! $ (hroughout high school,
& Sally, * , had been repeatedly elected to class office!
$* a*an '''''''', '''''''' organi+er
()! & (he new school seemed to be a terrifying place,
$ a*an '''''''', '''''''' building!
(4! & (im had a knack for guessing the top ten songs of the week,
$ a*an '''''''', '''''''' skill!
(*! & (he road, * , stretched out for miles!
$* a*an '''''''', '''''''' route
(+! & Sharon could not find her favorite sweater,
$ ''''' '''''''' , '''''''' cardigan!
(,! & He hurried to ,oin the playing children,
$ a*an '''''''', '''''''', '''''''' trio!
(-! & -ino, * , allows the pearl to take control of his life!
$* ''''' '''''''', '''''''' hero in Steinbeck.s novel
(.! & Montresor, * , cleverly tries to ,ustify his behavior!
$* ''''' very '''''''', '''''''' narrator of "oe.s
short story
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Noun Phrase Exercise B Noun Phrase Exercise B
Directions: n a separate sheet of paper, rewrite the diagrams below
and add appropriate noun determiners and modifiers as the spaces
indicate! /lso, add appropriate punctuation where called for!
%/A0P1%: & 0t was an unforgettable trip,
$ some skillfully guided sight2seeing,
$ the e)cellent, varied food,
$ and some satisfyingly good snapshots!
('! & 1arla found that she liked everything about college,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' courses,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' dormitory,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' dates!
((! & She was overwhelmed by the paperwork,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' reports,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' memos,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' recommendations!
()! & 0.ll never forget that last summer at camp,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' days,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' evenings,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' weekends!
(4! & 2essica carried in all of the packages from the car,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' groceries,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' shoes,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' pants!
(*! & (he day before vacation seemed to drag on interminably,
$ ''''''' ''''''' classes,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' afternoons,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' paperwork!
(+! $ n 3riday,
& two guests appeared on our doorstep,
$ ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' friend,
$ and ''''''' ''''''' ''''''' uncle!
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Noun Phrase Exercise C
Directions: Complete this e&ercise on a separate sheet of
paper3 4ou are going to construct a total of five sentences for
this e)ercise! 5se the underlined word in your base clause! (hen, pick
any two of the words that follow and make them each a headword of a
noun phrase! 6ach noun phrase should start with a noun determiner
and have at least two modifiers describing the noun headword!
%&amples:
car7 body, engine, trim, color, model, power, lights, wheels,
carburetor
& Michael described his friend.s new car,
$ the sleek, low body,
$ its four8barrel carburetor!
& Sue drew a picture of her ideal car,
$ the vivid e)terior color,
$ the contrasting interior trim,
$ and the four brightly shining wire wheels!
('! brea4fast7 cereal, toast, ,uice, eggs, bacon, milk, coffee, cocoa
((! clutter7 books, pencils, papers, lamp, bo)es, typewriter,
calendar, candy
()! e"erthing7 water, mud, fish, rocks, cans, tires, boats, ducks,
swimmers
(4! e"erwhere7 record store, 1hinese restaurant, pet shop, movie
theater, bouti#ue, food court
(*! guests7 friends, relatives, neighbors, children, pets
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Noun Phrase Exercise D
Directions: (his e)ercise will give you practice in varying the types of
modifiers that you add to your noun phrases! #n a separate sheet of
paper, rewrite the sentence providing the types of words re#uested in
parentheses that will modify the noun headword given! 4ou will find
noun determiners and possessives in the noun phrase section of this
workbook!
('! $ 5nder the 1hristmas tree,
& "eter found the gifts he had wanted most,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective: book,
$ and 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective: 9noun:
,acket!
((! & Mother has thrown out all of our mess,
$ 9possessive noun determiner: 9ad,ective: comics,
$ and 9possessive noun determiner: 9past participle:
models!
()! & (he resources of our library are limitless,
$ 9noun determiner: 9adverb: 9ad,ective: reference8books,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective: reserve books,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective: 9noun: collections,
$ and 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9past participle:
maga+ines and newspapers!
(4! & (he farmer, * , carried the bale on his hip,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective: worker!
(*! & (he platform was crowded with luggage7
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective: 9past participle: trunks,
$ and 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective: 9ad,ective: suitcases!
(+! & / few hours later we caught two bass,
$ 9adverb: 9ad,ective: fish 9prepositional phrase:!
(,! & (he little man pulled at the top of his tie,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective: tie 9prepositional phrase:!
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Noun Phrase Exercise E
Directions: #n a separate sheet of paper, write new sentences by
taking material from the source sentences and adding it to the final
sentence in the manner indicated!
%/A0P1%: Source Sentences: -ay looked about her room! 0t was a
co+y place! 0t was full of sunshine!
& -ay looked about her room,
$ a*an neat, co5, sunshin place!
(n-d) (adjective) (adjective) (adjective) (noun)
('! Source Sentences: (he new teenager was always smiling! She was
very friendly! No one seemed to notice that she was rather awkward!
& 6veryone in the neighborhood likes the new girl down the block,
$ 9noun determiner: 9present participle:, 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective:
teenager!
((! Source Sentences7 (he umpire was a short, heavy8set man! He
was sweating! He was hard8bitten!
& (he crowd shouted insults at the umpire,
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective:, 9present participle:
man!
()! Source Sentences7 2ean found that a summer ,ob involved some
busy hours! Some were rather hectic! (here were days that were
interesting! thers were profitable!
& 2ean found out what a summer ,ob involved7
$ 9noun determiner: 9ad,ective:, 9ad,ective: hours
$ and 9noun determiner: 9adverb:, 9ad,ective: days!
(4! Source Sentences7 (he students were planning an e)citing
evening! 0t was to be an unusual one!
& (he students were planning the first social event of the season,
$ 9noun determiner: 9present participle:, 9ad,ective: evening!
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Noun Phrase Exercise F
Directions: 1hoose one noun for each sphere and write four ;<<=
noun phrases to rename each noun!
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Noun Phrase Exercise G
Directions:
$ n a separate piece of paper,
& diagram the sentences below according to the levels of generality,
$ filling in the blanks with appropriate noun phrases and
prepositional phrases!
(%/3! /ccording to %ob, 'noun phrase', Steve and 2amie broke up
'prep! phrase' 'prep! phrase', 'noun phrase' 'prep! "hrase!
$ /ccording to %ob,
> the know8it8all town gossip,
& Steve and 2aime broke up at the fair on Saturday,
$ a rainy, dreary afternoon for both of them!
('! (he birthday card, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase' 'prep!
phrase', arrived late every year!
((! 'Noun phrase' 'prep! phrase' 'prep! phrase', the "alm "ilot
kept track of Rons busy life, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase', 'noun
phrase' 'prep! phrase', and 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase'!
()! 'Noun phrase' , the novel had all the right elements of a great
piece of literature, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase', 'noun phrase'
'prep! phrase', and 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase'!
(4! 'Noun phrase' 'prep! phrase', 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase',
'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase' ? these are the greatest features of
'your favorite television show'!
(*! Superman, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase', might ,ust be able to
defeat both /lien and "redator, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase'!
(+! '"rep! phrase', the computer seems to free+e up, 'noun phrase'
'prep! phrase'!
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(,! (he last sentence on this page, 'noun phrase' 'prep! phrase' is
at the bottom of this page!
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