A word or group of words with a noun at its head (i.e. the noun is the essential word), often with added information in the form of modifiers. Premodifiers precede the head, and post-modifiers follow it. Thus a noun phrase could include a determiner (e.g. the article the), a premodifier (e.g. the adjective intelligent), a headword (e.g. the noun girl), and a post-modifier (e.g. the prepositional phrase on the sofa). Understanding the noun phrase is very useful for students of Language and Literature; it is here that students can identify (some of) the perspective or ideology of a text.

Related lessons

• Representing the World: Understanding Modality