Introduction

It may be the case that the preoccupation with the verb phrase in language teaching materials has been at the expense of due attention to the noun phrase: a simple count of errors in the writing produced by intermediate students often reveals a higher proportion of noun-phrase-related errors than errors in the verb system. This unit, and the following unit on determiners, attempt to redress the balance.

Tasks

1 Noun types

In the following text, find an example of each of the following:

• a A proper noun: the name of a specific, and unique, person, place, etc. (Be careful: a capital letter

• does not necessarily make something unique!)

• b A common noun: any noun that is not a proper noun, often divided between concrete and

• abstract nouns. Can you find an example of each?

• c A count noun: a noun that refers to an object that can be counted, and therefore allows a plural

• form, and takes a plural verb.

• d A collective noun: one that refers to a group, and may take either a singular or plural verb.

• (There is one example in the text, although it is not the subject of a sentence.)

• e A non-count noun (also called ‘mass’ noun): a noun that is uncountable, has no plural form and

• always takes a singular verb.

• f A noun modifier: a noun that functions like an adjective and modifies the meaning of the noun

• that follows.

• g A pronoun: a word that can substitute for a noun.

• h An adjective functioning as a noun.

2 Countability

Which of the following combinations of determiner and noun are grammatical? For example, which could answer the question: Who or what did you see?

Can you identify each of the noun types in columns (1–5) in the above exercise?

3 Errors

With reference to the chart in task 2, explain what is the noun phrase problem in each of these examples of learner writing (from the Cambridge English Corpus).

• a Here are some advices which I think will be very helpful.

• b She is a sixteen-year-old girl, blond with a long hair and lives next my house.

• c After a while an other taxi took me to the John’s house.

• d His name is Luca, he is 25 years old, he is student.