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Linguistics & Grammar vocabulary · Syntax

Noun phrase

Meaning in linguistics & grammar, with examples

nounCore term

In linguistics & grammar, noun phrase means: A group of words built around a noun or pronoun that works as one unit, often as subject or object, such as 'the tall man in the blue coat'.

In Turkish: ad öbeği, isim öbeği, ad grubu

How it is used

Abbreviated NP in syntax. A noun phrase has a head noun with optional determiners and modifiers before and after it. Academic English packs a lot of information into long noun phrases.

Example sentences

  1. In 'The results of the second study were surprising', the whole noun phrase 'the results of the second study' is the subject.

  2. Long noun phrases such as 'a significant increase in student numbers' are typical of academic texts.

Common collocations

  • head of a noun phrase
  • complex noun phrase
  • noun phrase modification
  • NP
  • phraseA group of words that works as one unit in a sentence but usually has no subject-verb pair, such as 'the old library' or 'in the morning'.
  • nounA word that names a person, place, thing, idea or feeling and can usually be the subject or object of a verb, such as teacher, Ankara, chair or freedom.
  • determinerA word that comes before a noun to show which one or how much is meant, such as the, a, this, my, some, every or two.
  • constituentA word or group of words that functions as a single unit in the structure of a sentence, such as a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase.
  • subjectThe part of a clause that usually names who or what does the action or is described, and that the verb agrees with, such as 'my sister' in 'My sister works here'.

More terms: Syntax

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