THE NOUN PHRASE (1)

A noun phrase is made up of minimum one noun that is or can be accompanied by other words
(categories) that may appear before or after the noun and that give information about that noun.

the very old shoe

head noun

twenty hats

my thick textbook

a book of magic

the man on The Moon

The noun, then, is the most important concept in the phrase and it is marked as the HEAD. The
words which appear before the noun are called the PRE MODIFIERS and those which come after
the noun are called POST MODIFIERS. At the beginning of the noun phrases, there comes a word
which helps to identify which noun specifically we are talking about and that word is the
DETERMINER.

In all, a noun phrase may look like this, the pre and post modifiers being optional:

DETERMINER + PRE MODIFIER(S) + HEAD NOUN + POST MODIFIER(S)

Let’s analyse each element in the noun phrase so as to know how to form noun phrases correctly.

DETERMINERS

Determiners are the words that tell us exactly which noun we are speaking about by giving
information about its owner, its position, its quantity, etc.

There are five different types of determiners and they can be classified into the following categories:
Articles, Demonstratives, Possessives, Quantifiers, Distributives.

 Articles: the / a / an / zero article

Articles tell us if the noun we are talking about has been mentioned before or if it is the only one in
its group or if it is simply one in a bigger group

Eg. A dog is one of the many dogs that exist

THE dog is one already mentioned.

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 Demonstratives: this / that / these / those

Demonstratives tell us where the object/person (noun) is situated; next to the speaker or at a
distance. They “demonstrate” or point to which noun we are speaking about.

Eg. THIS man is one man near the speaker

THOSE books speak about more than one book separated from where the speaker is.

 Possessives
They tell us who the object (noun) belongs to.
Eg. HIS mother we are talking about the mother (noun) of a boy/man.

 Quantifiers: some / a lot of / little / no (among others)

They give us information about the exact number/amount of people/objects(noun) or just give us an
idea of the quantity.

Eg. FEW children not an exact number, not a big number, but more than one.

 Distributives: both / none / every ( among others)

They tell us if the object/person (noun) is separated, or together with others.

Eg. EACH student shows one student separated from the other.

ALL students speak about students all together.

Possessives and demonstratives do not have any special rule for their use, except their meaning.
But the others need some more detailed analysis.

ARTICLES

There are different uses of the indefinite article A(N) , the definite article (THE) and the zero article
or no article.

To learn about the correct uses of the articles, you should go to Chapter 20 of the grammar book
Macmillan English Grammar in Context. Chapter 20 deals with the difference between the three
articles and how to use them correctly and Chapter 21 includes some other groups that need the
use of articles.

Once you have read the theory, you can complete the following chart with your own examples of
the main uses of the articles:

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 INDEFINITE
example DEFINITE ARTICLE example ZERO ARTICLE example
ARTICLE

instruments noun + post modifier Plural nouns

Uncountable noun
set of named things singular noun (class)
(class)
shops or place as a
measurements abstract ideas
general reference
symptoms of
unique object proper names
illnesses
exclamations with plural nationality places, when they
sing. nouns nouns begin with a name
singular nationality
Oceans/rivers illnesses
nouns
islands unless they
cardinal points
are post modified
months/days of the
Collective nouns
week

Deserts Places in general

buildings

Now that you have a reference, you can complete the many exercises that the book has for your
practice and check your answers with the key.

QUANTIFIERS

When dealing with quantifiers, you must be very careful and identify what type of noun you are
using; countable or uncountable, because many of the quantifiers can be used with only one type.
To learn about quantifiers, read Chapter 22, page. 104 of the grammar book Macmillan English
Grammar in Context to see which ones indicate a big number or a small number; which ones are
used with countable nouns, which one with uncountable ones and which ones with the two

ATTENTION: The author of the grammar book does not make any difference between quantifiers
and distributives so they appear all together in this chapter. So after reading about how they work,
you will divide them into groups.

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1- The following is the list of the most frequent quantifiers. Sort them out according to the
quantity they express: a big quantity or a small quantity or simply quantity (not big, not
small). You will need a dictionary for some of them because they are not included in chapter
22 of the book.

MANY – A LOT OF – A BIG NUMBER OF – PLENTY OF – FEW – MUCH – A FEW – LOTS OF – LOADS
OF – SEVERAL – LITTLE – FEWER – A GREAT DEAL OF – A SMALL AMOUNT OF – SOME – ENOUGH
– MOST – LESS – MASSES OF – MORE – ANY

A big number:

A number:

A small number:

1. Now in the three groups, divide them according to the type of noun they are used with:
countable or uncountable:

With countable nouns:

BIG NUMBER

With uncountable nouns:

With countable nouns:

A NUMBER

With uncountable nouns:

A With countable nouns:

SMALL NUMBER

With uncountable nouns:

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 THINGS TO PAY ATTENTION TO:

 There is no difference between a lot of – lots of

 Few and a few express a small amount but few indicates a small amount and not
enough (negative) and a few indicates a small amount but OK (positive)

 The same difference exists between little and a little.

 To express no quantity at all, you can use no and the verb must be affirmative. The
other possibility is to use any and the verb in the negative form.

 Many and a lot of express a big number but a lot of is used in affirmative sentences
and many in negative and interrogative. The exception is when many is at the
beginning of the sentence: e.g. Many people like this program.

 The same happens between much and a lot of.

 Less and more are quantifiers when they are followed by a noun. Be careful because
they can also be followed by adjectives to compare characteristics

 The use of too is to indicate excess. So too many people for example, indicates that
the number is not only big; it is excessive.

 Quite, rather and very intensify the idea of quantity. Very is more than quite and
rather has a negative implication.

DISTRIBUTIVES

BOTH: indicates the two together. It is followed by a plural verb.

Both men admire Sheila

NEITHER: speaks about two nouns but it is negative meaning not one, not the other. As it is a
negative word, the verb should be affirmative. The verb agrees with the second noun (plural if it is
plural or singular if it is singular)

They were able to make contact with neither parent.

EITHER: refers to two nouns, too but from the point of view of alternatives (this one OR this one). It
is used in questions and negative statements. It is used with singular verbs.

They made no attempt to rescue either dog.

ALL: indicates the whole group of a certain type; it has a collective use. Use a singular verb when
you are using an uncountable or singular noun and a plural verb when you are using a plural noun.

All wine contains alcohol

NONE: refers to all the group but with a negative meaning (not any of all the elements). It is used
with a verb in the singular form

None of letters was for me.

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EVERY: speaks about the whole group but emphasising an individual one-by-one point of view. It is
followed by a singular noun and a singular verb.

EACH: is the same as every but usually preferred when you are speaking about a group of two
elements. The verb that follows is singular.

They checked every/each table before the guests arrived.

ANOTHER: emphasises that something is additional to an existing number or quantity. Another is

used with singular nouns.

OTHER: is used to indicate the remaining elements in a group. It is used with plural nouns.

One boy is here. Another boy is coming. The other two boys stayed at home.

USING QUANTIFIERS AND DISTRIBUTIVES WITH OTHER DETERMINERS

We generally don’t use quantifiers or distributives before or after other determiners. However,
all and both can immediately precede the or a possessive.

We can combine the following quantifiers:

Every + few I travel every few weeks.

A few + more / less He needed a few more votes.

We can also link quantifiers and distributives to nouns by using of the or of + possessive.

Give it to either of the children.

Many of our friends came.

Now, you can do the activities in the book and check with the key.

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KEY TO THE EXERCISES

1- The following is the list of the most frequent quantifiers. Sort them out according to the
quantity they express

A big number:
many, a lot of, a big number of, plenty of, much, lots of, loads of, a great deal of , most, masses of,
more

A number:
some, several, any, a few, enough

A small number
few, little, fewer, a small amount of, less

2- Now in the three groups, divide them according to the type of noun they are used with:
countable or uncountable:

With countable nouns:

many, a lot of, a big number of, plenty of, lots of, loads of, most, masses
of, more
BIG NUMBER
With uncountable nouns:

a lot of, much, plenty of, lots of, a great deal of, loads of, most, masses
of, more

With countable nouns: some, several, enough, any

A NUMBER
With uncountable nouns: some, enough, any

With countable nouns:

few, fewer
SMALL NUMBER
With uncountable nouns:

little, a small amount of, less