To English
Make your writing more interesting to read
THE NOUN PHRASE
Learning outcome
• You will understand how the English language uses noun phrases to make writing more interesting and efficient
• You will be able to improve your writing by building up noun phrases
• This also prepares you for academic and descriptive writing
Let’s get started
Reminder
A noun is a word that names the things we are talking about. A noun names a person, place or a thing (object or idea).
Look what happens to the noun
carred with a sunroof
sporty,My
It has just been expanded!!!
Let’s see it again
woman inblack mysterious
The
Example noun phrases
a class of excellent studentsa beautiful little girlmy pena Coca-Cola bottlethe best school in the areaa disappointed parentany questionthe lesson after Maths
the three musketeersa gold ring
A group of words which act like a nounWords can go before the noun
the great river
man of honour
and/or after the noun
They modify the meaning of the noun
The noun phrase
Why noun phrases?
efficient: using minimum resources
Complex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effectiveComplex noun phrases are effective
They give extra information about
the nound very efficient way
It is very boring to read a text without them
Compare these sentences. Which is more interesting to read?
The sun has risen.
The glowing sun that gives life has slowly
risen.
Let’s get rolling then
What is this road like?
What kind of road is it?
Don’t just say it is a road, but add some more information to it
What is this wheel like?
What kind of wheel is it?
Don’t just say it is a wheel, but add some more information to it
What are these pebbles like?
What kind of pebbles are these?
Don’t just say they are pebbles, but add some more information to it
What are these swimmers like?
What kind of swimmers are they?
Don’t just say they are swimmers, but add some more information to it
What is this mask like?
What kind of mask is it?
Don’t just say it is a mask, but add some more information to it
What are these blocks like?
What kind of blocks are these?
Don’t just say they are blocks, but add some more information to it
What are these books like?
What kind of books are these?
Don’t just say they are books, but add some more information to it
Let’s pull it together
to English
THE NOUN PHRASEPart 2Make your writing more interesting to read
Learning outcome
• You will understand how the English language uses noun phrases to make writing more interesting and efficient
• You will be able to improve your writing by building up noun phrases
• This also prepares you for academic and descriptive writing
Let’s get started
The girl with red hair was afraid of flying. She was determined to overcome this fear. Her aunt in America had invited her to stay and she wanted to go. Fears like this can be overcome, she decided.
See if you can spot the noun phrases
Let’s get rolling then
CircumstanceProcess(Verb)
Participant(Object)
Participant(Subject)
The little girl is reading her new book in the living room.
FORMlabels
FUNCTIONlabels
noun phrase noun phraseverb phrase prepositional phrase
preposition + noun phrase
Noun phrases in sentences
See how a noun phrase can be built up
girl
girlEnglish
girlEnglishnice
girlsEnglishnicefour
girlsEnglishnicefourthe
girlsEnglishnicefourthe from the neighbourhood
You can add more of
this
The possible components of a noun phrase
girlsEnglishnicefourthe from the neighbourhood
HeadClassifier
DescriberQuantifier
Determiner Qualifier
Can you find the noun phrases in this extract from a novel?
Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards the evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish …
Extract from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Look for the nouns and
see what you find around
them
Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as
the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most
vivid and broad impression of the identity of things,
seems to me have been gained on a memorable raw
afternoon towards the evening. At such a time I found out
for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles
was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this
parish …
Notice how much percentage of the text
is basically noun phrases:
50/73
to English
THE NOUN PHRASEPart 3Make your writing more interesting to read
Process(Verb)
Noun Phrase or Sentence
nobody knew exactlyNobody knew exactly.
Noun Phrase or Sentence
the burial siteAlso recovered from the burial site were scraps of expensive clothing that seemed to correspond roughly in gender, age and size to the Romanov family and followers.
Part of a Circumstance
Components of the noun phrase
Nounphrase
Head
Classifier
Describer
Quantifier
Determiner
Qualifier
lesson
English lesson
great English lesson
a few great English lessons
those few great English lessons
those few great English lessons when I was twelve
Let’s look at the parts of the noun phrase again and see some examples at work
Head
The Head is the main part of the noun phrase; this is what gets modified by the other parts. It is usually a noun
Classifier
The Classifier classifies the Head. It tells about the type of something rather than just describing it
DescriberThe Describer describes the Head. It tells about the quality of something rather than putting it in a class. It is usually an adjective or a participle (improving…/improved)
Quantifier
The Quantifier tells how many Heads there are. This can be a number or some indefinite word
Determiner
The Determiner specifies the kind of reference a noun has. This can be an article or a possessive/ demonstrative/quantifier/numeral
Type of Determiners
Determiner
• article a/an, the, books (zero article when plural)
• possessive determiner my, your, his, its, etc.
• demonstrative determiner this, that, these, those
• quantifier every/each, either/neither, any,no; all, many, some, (a) few, enough, several, both
• numeral one/two…
Qualifier
The Qualifier is some extra information put after the Head. This is usually a prepositional phrase (a preposition + another noun phrase).
Describer
this bleak place overgrown with nettles
Let’s analyse this noun phrase
Determiner Head Qualifier
a memorable raw afternoon towards the evening
Determiner
Head
Qualifier
Describer (describes the raw afternoon – that is why there is no comma)
Describer
Let’s analyse this noun phrase
Quantifier
My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things
Let’s analyse this noun phrase
Determiner Describer Head
Determiner
Head
Qualifier
DescriberQualifier
Describer of the Describer
Task: Now, build up a noun phrase. Start with the Head
HeadClassifierDescriberQuantifierDeterminer Qualifier
What possible parts can a noun phrase have by function?
Head
Classifier
Describer
Quantifier
Determiner
Qualifier
Noun PhraseComponents
Can you add any information to these nouns?
• The meeting went well.• The bus came late.• The cat is hiding under the bed.• Their house is near the beach.• After the show we went home.
The first trick – two statements in one
This ring is beautiful.
This beautiful ring ....is mine.broke because of you.
Try it. See how the sentences improve
• The clock is big.
• The summer is cold.
• The school is fantastic.
• The big clock never works.
• The cold summer is not good for kids.
• This fantastic school has just opened its theatre.
Identify the noun phrases in this extract. What is the purpose of them?
The sea which lies before me as I write glows rather than sparkles in the bland May sunshine. With the tide turning, it leans quietly against the land, almost unflecked by ripples or by foam. Near to the horizon it is a luxurious purple, spotted with regular lines of emerald green. At the horizon it is indigo. Near to the shore, where my view is framed by rising heaps of humpy yellow rock, there is a band of lighter green, icy and pure, less radiant, opaque however, not transparent. We are in the north, and the bright sunshine cannot penetrate the sea. Where the gentle water taps the rocks there is still a surface skin of colour. The cloudless sky is very pale at the indigo horizon which it lightly pencils in with silver. Its blue gains towards the zenith and vibrates there. But the sky looks cold, even the sun looks cold.
Extract from the novel, The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
The sea which lies before me as I write glows rather than sparkles in the bland May sunshine. With the tide turning, it leans quietly against the land, almost unflecked by ripples or by foam. Near to the horizon it is a luxurious purple, spotted with regular lines of emerald green. At the horizon it is indigo. Near to the shore, where my view is framed by rising heaps of humpy yellow rock, there is a band of lighter green, icy and pure, less radiant, opaque however, not transparent. We are in the north, and the bright sunshine cannot penetrate the sea. Where the gentle water taps the rocks there is still a surface skin of colour. The cloudless sky is very pale at the indigo horizon which it lightly pencils in with silver. Its blue gains towards the zenith and vibrates there. But the sky looks cold, even the sun looks cold.
The noun phrases in this opening paragraph serve as a resource for capturing both the look and the feel of the landscape.
Analyse these noun phrases;use the table on your sheet
The sea which lies before me as I write glows rather than sparkles in the bland May sunshine. With the tide turning, it leans quietly against the land, almost unflecked by ripples or by foam. Near to the horizon it is a luxurious purple, spotted with regular lines of emerald green. At the horizon it is indigo. Near to the shore, where my view is framed by rising heaps of humpy yellow rock, there is a band of lighter green, icy and pure, less radiant, opaque however, not transparent. We are in the north, and the bright sunshine cannot penetrate the sea. Where the gentle water taps the rocks there is still a surface skin of colour. The cloudless sky is very pale at the indigo horizon which it lightly pencils in with silver. Its blue gains towards the zenith and vibrates there. But the sky looks cold, even the sun looks cold.
Determiner Quantifier Describer Classifier Head Qualifier
the bland May sunshine
luxurious purple*
regular lines of emerald green
Rising heaps of
humpy yellow rock
a band Of lighter green, icy and pure, less radiant, opaque* however, not transparent
the bright sunshine
More like a type
Determiner Quantifier Describer Classifier Head Qualifier
the gentle water
a surface skin of colour
the cloudless sky
the indigo horizon
More like a type
This time you will see that although there are many adjectives serving to capture the colours and atmosphere of Ayemenem, a town in India, the description seems clumsy. Can you diagnose what is wrong – grammatically speaking?
May in Ayemenem is hot. May is also brooding. The days are long. They are humid. The river shrinks. The mango trees are still. The mango trees are also dust green. Black crows are on the mango trees. They gorge on the mangoes. The mangoes are bright. The bananas are red. The bananas ripen. There are jackfruits. The jackfruits burst. Bluebottles are dissolute. They hum vacuously in the air. The air is fruity. The bluebottles then stun themselves against windowpanes. These windowpanes are clear. The bluebottles die. When they die they are fatly baffled in the sun.
The nights are clear. But the nights are suffused with sloth. The nights are also suffused with expectation. This expectation is sullen.
Nearly all the adjectives in the paragraph are functioning as Participants (complements). They are not in a noun phrase as Describers.
The descriptions seem drawn out and stilted. It is a list of things, but not shaped and compacted in such a way as to capture our attention in writing
The original text
May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.
The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectation.
Compacted description; it focuses our attention
May in Ayemenem is hot. May is also brooding. The days are long. They are humid. The river shrinks. The mango trees are still. The mango trees are also dust green. Black crows are on the mango trees. They gorge on the mangoes. The mangoes are bright. The bananas are red. The bananas ripen. There are jackfruits. The jackfruits burst. Bluebottles are dissolute. They hum vacuously in the air. The air is fruity. The bluebottles then stun themselves against windowpanes. These windowpanes are clear. The bluebottles die. When they die they are fatly baffled in the sun.
The nights are clear. But the nights are suffused with sloth. The nights are also suffused with expectation. This expectation is sullen.
May in Ayemenem is a hot, brooding month. The days are long and humid. The river shrinks and black crows gorge on bright mangoes in still, dust green trees. Red bananas ripen. Jackfruits burst. Dissolute bluebottles hum vacuously in the fruity air. Then they stun themselves against clear windowpanes and die, fatly baffled in the sun.
The nights are clear but suffused with sloth and sullen expectation.
The most common adjectives used as describers and classifiers in noun phrases
Size/Amountbiglittlesmalllonggreathighlowlarge
Timenewold young
Colourblackwhitereddark
Evaluativegoodbestrightniceimportantspecial
Scopesamewholedifferentfullgeneralmajorfinalmainsingle
Topicalpoliticalpublicsocialhumaninternationalnationaleconomic
These more in the news and academic writing
Blue = in conversations
These are all frequent in fiction
Trick 2
The potato has grown.
The grown potato ....is very delicious.sells very well.
Try it. See how the sentences improve
• The clock is ticking.
• The summer is coming.
• The school is shut.
• The school has improved.
• The ticking clock never works.
• The coming summer promises surprises.
• The shut school is being renovated.
• The improved school hired more good teachers.
TRICK 3: Making nouns from verbs – another way of compacting information
• It rained yesterday.
• The rain yesterday was very sudden.
This is called NOMINALISATION. There is a tendency in English – especially technical English – to represent events, qualities of objects and qualities of events not as verbs, adjectives and adverbs but as nouns.
Examples:
to own→ownership, to move→movement, to grow→growth
How we make nouns from verbs
Verb formevaporateabsorbvibrateto rainto flowdeliverarrivemoveconvertunderstand
Nominalised form (abstract idea)evaporationabsorptionvibrationthe rainthe flowdeliveryarrivalmovementconversionunderstanding
Why is it good to know how we can build noun phrases?
• They give more information about the Participant and Circumstance in a very efficient* way
• It is very boring to read a text without them
Match the meanings of these words to the right word
to describe sg
to classify sg
to quantify sg
to determine sg
to qualify sg
• to arrange or order by classes
• to describe sg as having a particular quality
• to discover or express the quantity of sg
• to give an account of sg in words
• to fix in scope, extent…… (here)
Apply Trick 1 to one to these sentences
• The road is bumpy.
• The light is red.
• The banana was fresh.
• Have you put the adjectives in Participant role into Describer role in to the noun phrase?
• Have you introduced a new Process?
Noun phrases can help to enrich writing. Look at the following passage. The nouns have been highlighted. See if you can modify them and improve the passage.
The teacher raised his eyes and looked at the class. He held up the paper.
‘Which student has done this work?’
‘It’s mine, ’ said a voice.
‘Come and get the reward,’ said the teacher.
Now read two other versions. As you read them, discuss the differences, the effects of the noun phrases and how they compare to your version. The demon-like teacher raised his blood-shot eyes and looked at the class of terrified children. He held up the crumpled and torn paper.
‘Which miserable student has done this so-called work?’
‘It’s mine, ’ said a tiny trembling voice.
‘Come and get the reward you deserve,’ said the teacher with malice in his voice.
36/54 67%
The laughing teacher raised his watery eyes and looked at the puzzled class. He held up the paper he’d been reading.
‘Which quick-witted student has done this hilarious work on ‘My Life as a Whoopee Cushion’?’
‘It’s mine, ’ said a voice from under a table.
‘Come and get the reward for the funniest story this year,’ said the teacher through his giggles.
As you can see, noun phrases and how you construct them, are important aspects of writing.
You need to know when enough is enough too.
Read the following passage. Discuss how they could be improved.
The tall, imposing and really rather massive monument was made from cool white marble with lots of little, itsy-bitsy, infinitesimal flecks of emerald green running all the way through it. The girl gasped as she looked up at the absolutely huge, thick, chunky pillars, utterly and thoroughly amazed by its simplicity.The description contains too many adjectives.
The tall, imposing monument was made from cool white marble with little flecks of emerald green running through it. The girl gasped as she looked up at the thick pillars, amazed by its simplicity.
Now read another version and discuss why it might be more effective.
Sometimes less is more.
Be aware of noun phrases in your own writing and also in the writing of others.
You have learnt how to build complex noun phrases. You understand their roles in making writing more interesting. Use them in your writing.
MY CORONAyour subtitle goes here
YOUR TOPIC GOES HERE
• YOUR SUBTOPICS GO HERE
Backdrops:
- These are full sized backdrops, just scale them up!
- Can be Copy-Pasted out of Templates for use anywhere!
www.animationfactory.com
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Homework – for next lesson
• Find 10 examples of complex noun phrases in any printed material at home.
• Write down the example and state source like this
1. ‘sudden death’ from CCHR website, article on child drugs
2. …
• Write a piece of descriptive writing about a place (where you live or where you have been)
• Minimum 150 words
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