Grammar: Groups & phrases: Noun group

Structure of the noun group

How is the noun group structured?

In a group of words, there is always a Head word, which is the main word in the group. In a noun group, the Head word is a noun. The other words in the group are called Modifiers. They tell us more about the Head word.

Some Modifiers come in front of the noun, so they are called Pre-Modifiers:

Pre-Modifiers answer questions such as 'which one?', 'who owns it?', 'how many?', 'what's it like?', 'what type?'. 

Other Modifiers come after the noun, so they are called Post-Modifiers:

Post-Modifiers provide extra information about the Head noun. They usually take the form of prepositional phrases (of the Gong family) or clauses (that Granny had been given as a gift). 

For further information on Modifiers see the menu on the left: Functions within the noun group.

Joining two nouns

Another type of noun group structure is one which combines two or more nouns. This is called a noun group complex. There are two main patterns:

noun + noun

In this pattern, two or more nouns (or noun groups) are joined by conjunctions such as and, either ... or, neither ... nor, but, but not:

Granny Gong and her grandchildren
no popcorn or icecream or candy floss

noun = noun

In this pattern, one noun group is used to elaborate on another noun group, eg, my friend John (my friend = John). This is often referred to as 'nouns in apposition':

the first grandchild (=) Kitty
one of his naughtiest MischiefMakers (=) the GrumpyGhost

For ideas about how to familiarise your students with the structure of the noun group, click here: