POINTS TO REMEMBER
Noun phrases in isolation are easy enough to recognize (Determiner + (Optional Adjective phrases) + Noun).
But the way noun phrases work in English SENTENCES is by folding into ever bigger noun phrases that become giant NPs. This folding in process is called modification.
The definition of a noun phrase in a sentence in English is a noun head and all its modifiers.
So to begin with we have this sentence:
This need for extra food was never the case.
We can visually recognize noun phrases:
This need (DET (article) + noun)
Extra food (Adjective + noun)
The case (DET (article) + noun)
The reason (DET (article) + noun)
My request (DET (possessive pronoun) + noun)
An essay (DET (article) + noun)
But what are they doing in the sentence?
To answer that we have to see how they connect to each other.
Keep in mind this rule: In a sentence, an NP is a noun head and all its modifiers.
So what are modifiers?
Prepositional phrases can be one type of noun modifier. They can hang on to a noun and “modify” it (change it) in some important way.
This need FOR extra food.
We now have a new noun phrase --
[This need for [extra food]]
The head noun is “need” and the modifier is the prepositional phrase “for extra food” – which contains another noun phrase “extra food”!
The way we indicate this relationship is by bracketing as shown above.
So now we can look at this sentence and recognize that there are three noun phrases in it, and one is embedded inside another in a prepositional phrase that modifies the head noun “need.”
[This need for [extra food] ]was never [the case].
Now note: I could add some extra information onto “extra food” – maybe “soy protein” – which would give me:
[This need for [extra food with [soy protein]]] was never [the case].
See how this works?
Let’s create a giant noun phrase showing bracketing.
Consider this picture:
Consider this list of noun phrases. See if you can combine them into one properly bracketed giant NP with “background” as the head noun! The murky background; the enigmatic smile; the placid face; the model
[The murky background] is disturbing.
Directions: Answer each question with reference to the sentence ABOVE it.
Colombian rebels are at the center of a diplomatic crisis in South America's northern Andean region as Ecuador and Venezuela order troops to the Colombian border.
1. Underline the finite verb phrase(s) in this sentence.
On Saturday Colombian forces entered Ecuador.
2. Is the verb phrase in this sentence transitive?
They killed Raul Reyes, the No. 2 leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
3. Is there a pronoun in this sentence? If so, circle it and identify it by person, number, gender (if the pronoun shows gender), and case.
The neighboring countries accuse Colombia of violating Ecuadorean sovereignty in the raid.
4. Is there a non-count noun in this sentence? If so , circle it.
The facts below are about Colombia's biggest rebel army.
5. Circle the longest (most words) noun phrase in this sentence and underline the head noun.
The assassination of Reyes is considered the hardest blow ever against the FARC, which was established in the 1960s.
6. Is the pronoun which vague in this sentence?
FARC is a communist insurgent army.
7. Circle the lexical verb in this sentence.
The aim of FARC is the reduction of the wide gulf between economic classes in the South American state.
8. Draw brackets around every noun phrase in this sentence.
The group has used the multibillion-dollar Colombian cocaine trade to its advantage.
9. What is the tense and aspect of the finite verb phrase in this sentence?
The drug trade has funded its operations over the last 20 years.
10. If there is a pronoun in this sentence, circle it, identify it (person, number, gender, case) and then determine if it qualifies as “vague.”
In many regions, the conflict consists of turf battles by guerrillas of different factions over lucrative cocaine-producing land.
11. Circle: Is the verb phrase active or passive? Active/Passive
The FARC, right-wing paramilitaries and other drug smuggling gangs are involved in these turf battles.
12. Circle: Is the verb phrase active or passive? Active/Passive
The FARC has been branded a terrorist organization by the United State and European Union.
13. Circle: Is the verb phrase active or passive? Active/Passive
It has been pushed onto the defensive by U.S.-backed security policies.
14. What is the operator of the finite verb phrase?
The United States has given Colombia $5.5 billion in mostly military aid over the last seven years.
15. Is there a modal in this sentence?
But the FARC still controls some rural areas.
16. Is there a noun phrase with a proper head noun in this sentence? If so, circle that head noun.
In these camps, the FARC produces cocaine.
17. Is the verb phrase in this sentence intransitive?
Hundreds of kidnap victims hostage are kept in secret jungle camps.
18. Is this sentence passive? If so, rewrite it in the active. If not, do nothing.
Three American defense contractors and French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt are among the captives.
19. Draw a line under the subject of the verb
She was snatched during her 2002 presidential campaign.
20. Is this sentence passive? If so, rewrite it in the active. If not, do nothing.
In January and February, the group freed six long-term hostages.
21. Circle the object of the verb.
Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chavez, brokered the deal.
22. Circle the subject of the verb.