A noun phrase is a group of words
that does the work of a noun. A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of
words that can be replaced by a pronoun. e.g 'they', 'bicycles', and 'the bicycles' are noun phrases, but 'bicycle' is
just a noun, as you can see in these sentences (in which the noun phrases are
all in italics).
A noun phrase (NP) can consist of
one word (for example, the pronoun we or the plural noun cats), or it can
consist of a noun with a number of dependents. The dependents occur before or
after the noun head depending on their function. For example, the new boat that
I bought yesterday is a noun phrase containing the determiner the, the
adjective new, the head noun boat, and the relative clause that I bought
yesterday.
Noun phrases often function as
complements to the verb; for example, in the clause Many people run the
marathon every year, the NPs many people and the marathon function as the
subject and object respectively. The NP every year is an adjunct, which is an
optional element in the grammatical structure of this clause
Q: Do you
like bicycles?
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the bicycles over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the bicycle I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the bicycle', not 'bicycle')
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the bicycles over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the bicycle I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the bicycle', not 'bicycle')
Structures of Noun phrases
Noun Premodifiers - Modifiers before the noun
are called premodifiers. (modify means to limit, restrict, characterize, or
otherwise focus meaning). All of the premodifiers that are present and the noun
together form a noun phrase.
Noun
Post-Modifiers - Modifiers coming after a noun are called post-modifiers.
1). NOUN PHRASE: premodifiers + noun
e.g.
a). White house
white is a premodifier and house is a noun.
b). The three old Democratic legislators
the three old Democratic is premodifier and legislators is a noun.
1). NOUN PHRASE: premodifiers + noun
e.g.
a). White house
white is a premodifier and house is a noun.
b). The three old Democratic legislators
the three old Democratic is premodifier and legislators is a noun.
2). NOUN PHRASE -- noun + post-modifiers. (The most common post-modifier is prepositional phrases).
e.g.
a). The glass on the table
on the table is the post-modifier
b). The boy in the store
in the store is the post-modifier.
3). NOUN PHRASE -- pre-modifier + noun + post-modifier.
The noun together with all pre and post-modifiers constitutes a single unit, a noun phrase that indicates the complete reference.
e.g.
The boys on top of the house.
The is the premodifier, boys is the noun, on top of the house is the post-modifier.
Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things
that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have
one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:
- dog, cat, animal, man, person
- bottle, box, litre
- coin, note, dollar
- cup, plate, fork
- table, chair, suitcase, bag
Countable nouns can be singular or plural:
- My dog is playing.
- My dogs are hungry.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
- A dog is an animal.
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this
with it:
- I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
- Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)
Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts
etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count"
them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles
of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count
"milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
- music, art, love, happiness
- advice, information, news
- furniture, luggage
- rice, sugar, butter, water
- electricity, gas, power
- money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For
example:
- This news is very important.
- Your luggage looks heavy
Countable
nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example:
"pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens.
Here are some more countable nouns:
- dog, cat, animal, man, person
- bottle, box, litre
- coin, note, dollar
- cup, plate, fork
- table, chair, suitcase, bag
We can use
some with all these words. We also use grams/kilos/litres etc. in shops:
Can I have
three litres of milk, please?
- Some nouns can be countable or uncountable:
UNCOUNTABLE:
I like
coffee.
My hair is
blonde.
I haven't
got time.
I always
have sugar in my tea,
COUNTABLE:
I'll have
two coffees, please (cups of coffee)
There's a
hair in my tea
We had a
good time.
Three sugars
in my milk, please.
Here are
some more examples of countable and uncountable nouns:
Countable
|
Uncountable
|
dollar
|
money
|
song
|
music
|
suitcase
|
luggage
|
table
|
furniture
|
battery
|
electricity
|
bottle
|
wine
|
report
|
information
|
tip
|
advice
|
journey
|
travel
|
job
|
work
|
view
|
scenery
|
When you
learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's countable or
uncountable.
·
· a = indefinite article (not a specific
object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants
She has a dog.
I work in a factory.
She has a dog.
I work in a factory.
·
· an = indefinite article (not a specific
object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u)
The
indefinite article is the a is the same for all genders.
a boy, a girl, a cat
a boy, a girl, a cat
The
indefinite article has no plural form.
a boy - boys
a boy - boys
We use an if
the following word starts with a vowel.
Can I have
an apple?
She is an English teacher.
She is an English teacher.
·
· the = definite article (a specific
object that both the person speaking and the listener know)
The car over there is fast.
The teacher is very good, isn't he?
The car over there is fast.
The teacher is very good, isn't he?
·
· Other = A person's definition of the
'Other' is part of what defines or even constitutes the self
(in both a psychological and philosophical sense) and other phenomena and cultural units.
Sumber :
http://english---language.blogspot.com/2006/10/noun-phrase.html
http://babelnet.sbg.ac.at/themepark/castle/countform.htm
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