Noun Phrases in English: A comprehensive guide for English learners

We often hear that noun phrases  are important in English,  

and students often tell me that they are  interested in learning more about them.

So, in this video I’ll show you how  to use noun phrases more effectively  

and even improve your exam score in the process.

I’ll explain what a noun phrase is, how to create  one, how to identify one, how to make sure your  

sentences are grammatically correct with a  long noun phrase and why they’re important.

Hello everyone, Anna here  from EnglishLikeANative.co.uk 

This lesson is going to get technical,  so have your pen to hand, or download  

the FREE PDF Worksheet that accompanies this  lesson - link can be found in the description.

So, first of all, let’s define our terms.

What, exactly, is a noun phrase  and why are they so important?

Put very simply, a noun phrase is a noun or  pronoun and all the words that modify it.

You can add the modifiers before the noun… like

“The tall man is happy.”

In this sentence ‘the tall man’ is the noun  phrase and ‘the’ and ‘tall’ are the modifiers.

Or you can put the modifiers after the noun.

“Could you pass me the pen  that’s on the table, please?”

In this sentence ‘the pen that’s  on the table’ is the noun phrase.

‘That’s on the table’  modifies ‘pen’ after the noun.

And, of course ‘the’ modifies ‘pen’ before it.

You could also replace ‘pen’ with the pronoun  ‘one’ in this sentence, to have the same meaning.

“Can you pass me the one  that’s on the table, please?”

The main noun/pronoun in this  sentence is ‘pen’ or ‘one’.

Let’s look at a few more examples.

Take the sentence “Help me find my cat”.

‘My cat’ is already the noun  phrase and it includes a noun,  

‘cat’ and a possessive adjective  which describes the noun, ‘my’.

Now let’s add some adjectives before the noun.

“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat.”

Now let’s add some more description  after ‘cat’ - ‘with a red collar on her’.

By the way, this is called ‘a  prepositional phrase’ because  

we have the preposition ‘with’ followed  by what is on the cat - ‘a red collar’.

We often find prepositional  phrases in noun phrases.

We can add another prepositional  phrase to describe the collar and  

create an even longer noun phrase,  like, ‘with a silver bell on it’.

So now the whole sentence is

“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat with  a red collar with a silver bell on it on her.”

Hmmm wait… now there are  two ‘withs’ and two ‘ons’.

That’s not great.

I’m going to change the first ‘with’ to ‘wearing’,  then I can take away the ‘on her’ at the end.

So now the sentence reads

“Help me find my scruffy black and white cat  wearing a red collar with a silver bell on it.”

Now my sentence gives a complete  description, is precise, doesn’t  

repeat words and uses a long noun phrase  that will surely impress any examiner!

Writing is always about editing, after all, so  it’s important to leave time in your exam so  

you can think about ways to expand your  noun phrases just as we have done here.

It can sometimes be difficult  to determine if something is  

a noun phrase or not, but here’s a simple trick.

If you can replace this part of the sentence  with just one pronoun, it’s a noun phrase.

Let’s get back to our cat example, shall we?

In the sentence “Help me find my scruffy black  and white cat wearing a red collar with a silver  

bell on it.”, if we replace the noun phrase with  ‘her’, it still makes sense – “Help me find her.”

So, then we know that ‘my scruffy  black and white cat wearing a red  

collar with a silver bell on it’ is a noun phrase.

This can help us in reading, to identify  the subject or object of a sentence and when  

completing the answers in the listening section  to help us identify the correct grammar to use.

Ah, speaking of verb agreement, to  determine the form of a verb to use,  

we first need to determine the main noun in  the phrase - sometimes called ‘the head noun’.

For example, “The tall man in  the black car is my uncle.”

Can you guess what the head  noun is in this sentence?

If you said ‘car’, I’m afraid  you’re wrong, it’s ‘uncle’.

Now, let’s take the example,

“The tall men in the black car ____ my uncles.”

If we use the verb ‘to be’, which form  should we use here? - ‘is’ or ‘are’?

Well, you may already know it’s ‘are’ because  you know the head noun is ‘men’, not ‘car’.

So, the sentence is “The tall  men in the car are my uncles.”

This is where many students make mistakes,  because they look at the closest noun to  

the verb, without looking at the WHOLE  noun phrase and they try to match the  

verb with that instead of making sure  the verb agrees with the HEAD noun.

Let’s look at one more example, but before we do,  

please take a second to give this  video a like and click subscribe.

Now, which is correct?

“a) One of the important things  has to be critical thinking.” 

Or

“b) One of the most important things  have to be critical thinking?”

It’s ‘a’. Even though we have ‘things’ and  ‘has’ next to each other, we have to use the  

third person singular form of the verb because the  head noun in this phrase is ‘one’, not ‘things’.

- Erm, why is it important for learners to  understand and use noun phrases correctly?

- Well, understanding noun phrase construction  helps you to be more precise and descriptive.

Also, as in the example “The tall  man in the black car is my uncle.”,  

we use a noun phrase to put the important  information at the beginning of the sentence  

because we want to draw attention  to the tall man in the black car.

The listener doesn’t know who my uncle is so I  

have to describe him first before  giving more information about him.

It also means that the grammar  you use will be more accurate,  

as we saw with correctly  identifying the head noun.

This is useful for completing gap  fill exercises that you might find  

in the Listening and Reading papers on the IELTS  exam and in Use of English in Cambridge exams.

In academic writing, these  things are all really important.

The use of noun phrases also helps  to make your writing impersonal,  

which is important in exam tasks  where you have to be more formal,  

like IELTS writing Task 2 or  Cambridge Advanced, parts 1 and 2.

Noun phrases can also help you score higher in  the IELTS part 1 on the General Training exam by  

adding more information - adjectives, adverbs  or prepositional phrases to your sentences,  

like when you are asked to describe  a bag you left on a bus, for example.

You could say “Would it be possible to  help me find my bag?” or you could modify  

the noun and make the sentence  more precise and descriptive.

“Would it be possible to help me find my small  

green leather bag with all  my work documents in it?”

‘Bag’ is still the head noun in this sentence,  

but is modified by three adjectives before  it and a preposition phrase after it.

This use of noun phrases is very  common in English and will give  

your examiner a good impression of your writing.

If you’d like a full video explaining  

adjective word order or prepositional  phrases, let me know in the comments!

Now it’s time for a quick quiz. Are you ready?

Look at the following noun phrases and pick  the main noun or head noun in each phrase.

1. The small yellow children’s scissors  on the corner of the dining table.

2. Several highly-paid top-level  executives who have flown in from overseas.

3. The tendency toward over-valuing  and under-performing sports teams.

The answers are:

1: scissors

Number 2: executives

Number 3: tendency

Now let’s try creating a sentence with these  noun phrases. Which form of the verb is correct?

1. The small yellow children’s  scissors on the corner of the  

dining room table ____ there for  my nieces and nephews to use.

2. Several highly-paid top-level executives who  

have flown in from overseas ____  meeting in the boardroom all day.

3. The tendency toward over-valuing  and under-performing sports teams ____  

risen dramatically over the last few years.

Ok, if you need a little bit more time you  can go back and just play those questions  

again until you have the answers, but  now I’m going to reveal the answers.

Number 1. The small yellow children’s scissors  on the corner of the dining room table are  

there for my nieces and nephews to use.  Scissors is a noun which is always plural.

Number 2. Several highly-paid top-level  executives who have flown in from overseas have  

meetings in the boardroom all day or are  having meetings in the boardroom all day. 

Executives is a countable plural noun. Number 3.  

The tendency toward over-valuing  and under-performing sports teams  

has risen dramatically over the last  few years. Tendency is a singular noun.

How did you do?

Now for three more, Cambridge  Use of English style questions.

You have to fill in the gap with 3 - 6  words to make the second sentence have  

the same meaning as the first sentence. Oh, and  use the word in brackets as part of your answer.

Here it goes.

1. There are few people in the world who  are said to write as well as she can.

So, now, using the word ‘as’ you need to complete  this sentence to mean the same as the first.

Few people worldwide can be called  as good a writer ____________.

And the answer is: Few people worldwide can be  called as good a writer as she is or as she can.

2. The team, who will be  crowned all-state champions,  

is going to parade down the main street next week.

You have to complete this  sentence using the word ‘due’.

The soon-to-be-crowned all-state champions  ______ parade down the main street next week.

And the answer is: The soon-to-be-crowned  

all-state champions are due to parade  down the main street next week.

3. The companies have grown in a way we did  not foresee, which has greatly contributed  

to reaching our targets for this quarter. You need to complete the sentence using ‘helped’.

This unforeseen ____________ us  reach our targets for this quarter.

The answer is: This unforeseen  growth has greatly/ or really  

helped us reach our targets for this quarter.

I hope now that noun phrases and their  uses and usefulness are clearer. Let  

me know how many of the quiz answers  you got right in the comments below!

Until next time, take care and goodbye.