Grammar: Groups & phrases: Noun group
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Overview |
A noun group is one type of group. The other types are verb groups, adjective groups and adverb groups. Groups go together to make up a clause:
All groups are built around the main word, or 'head' word.
In a noun group, the noun is the head word. Other words add more information about the noun.
The noun group is 'elastic' and can be extended to include many details. This makes it a valuable resource when we want to build up lots of information, such as in a description or a story:
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Noun group |
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| pre- | head word | post- |
| horses | ||
| those | horses | |
| those two | horses | |
| those two magnificent | horses | |
| those two magnificent racing | horses | |
| those two magnificent racing | horses | with the long tails |
| those two magnificent racing | horses | that we saw on the beach |
Noun groups represent a person, animal, place or thing. Through the noun group we can build up a detailed description of the 'things' in our world:
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noun group |
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| 'which?' | those boys |
| 'whose?' | my cat |
| 'how many?' | twelve bananas |
| 'what does it look like?' | the red car |
| 'what type?' | a racing bike |
| 'where?' | the shop on the corner |
The noun group is one of the most useful resources in English. It helps us create texts that are rich and precise. It is particularly important in written language, where we need to construct meanings that are detailed and yet concise.
When your students are writing, you will be able to help them make their texts more interesting, compact and mature. A good control of all the elements of the noun group is the mark of a good writer.
When students are learning how to describe people, places and things, it is very useful to demonstrate the various resources in the noun group which are available to build up the description. When they are describing a character in a story, for example, they can help the reader form a picture of the person:
He was a great, fat giant with a foolish-looking face.
When they are reading, it is useful for your students to be able to 'see' the noun groups and to recognise that they form a meaningful 'chunk'. Many young readers, for example, might read the above sentence as a series of individual words (He / was / a / great / fat / giant / with / a / foolish-looking / face) instead of seeing a great, fat giant with a foolish-looking face as a group of words that are related to each other in a principled or systematic way (ie with a head word surrounded by additional information which is sequenced in a particular way).
In these files, you will find out how the noun group is structured and the functions played by the different components of the noun group.
| If you would like to try an activity to familiarise yourself with noun groups, click here: |
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Alternative terms |
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| PrimeGram | Other grammars |
| noun group | nominal group, noun phrase |
For more information on word groups, see 
Grammar:
Groups
& phrases: Overview
For more information, see:
For PrimeTeach teaching activities which provide KS2 students with
practice in using nouns / noun groups, see:
A visit to the doctor
Creatures from other planets
Dinosaur fun
The missing patient game
Witches and vampires
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