The noun phrase

Many students face difficulties when tackling IELTS Reading tasks for the same reason – not understanding long sentences due to the complexity of noun phrases. This not only directly impacts scores in the Reading section but also indirectly affects the ability to articulate sentences in Writing and Speaking. Today, let’s delve into noun phrases in English together.

A noun phrase is a group of words with a noun as its main part. Information about the noun can be before the noun and/or after the noun.

Information that comes before the noun in a noun phrase is usually expressed through:

• determiners: this horrible rubbish
• adjectives and adverbs: a rich habitat

Information that comes after the noun is usually expressed through:

• preposisional phrases: an abundance of creatures
• past participle clauses: the rubbish contained in the harbour
• present participle (-ing) clauses: the rubbish lying at the bottom of the harbour
• to-infinitive clauses: a decision to expand

1. Noun + prepositional phrase

We can add information after a noun by using a prepositional phrase. Common prepositions in these phrases are of, in, for, on, to, with:

possible sites with submerged rubbish
a rich habitat for an abundance of creatures

Of is the most common preposition used in prepositional noun phrases. It is used after nouns of quantity or containers:

the number of fish
a bottle of water
an abundance of creatures (quantities)
a packet of biscuits (containers)

We also use of to show belonging or possession:

the rubble of the past (not the past’s rubble)
particular areas of the harbour

We often use at, in and on to talk about physical location:

this rubbish lying at the bottom of the harbour
different species living in Sydney Harbour

Prepositional phrases containing with often express the same information as a relative clause with the main verb have:

harbour sites with submerged rubbish (=harbour sites which have submerged rubbish)
sea tulips with bright red bodies (= sea tulips which have bright red bodies)

2. Noun + past participle clause

A past participle clause gives the same information as a relative clause with a passive verb:

all of the rubbish contained in the harbour (= rubbish which is contained in the harbour)
areas cleared of rubbish (= areas which have been cleared of rubbish)
the data collected from the sites (= the data which is collected from the sites)

In both spoken and written English using a noun + past participle clause is more common than the equivalent relative clause because it can express the same information in fewer words.

3. Noun + present participle (-ing) clause

A present participle clause can give the same information as a relative clause with an active verb, often in the present or past continuous:

the other debris lying on the sea floor (= the other debris which is lying on the sea floor)

As in section 2 above, the noun + present participle clause is more common than the equivalent relative clause.

4. Noun + to-infinitive clause

To-infinitive clauses are used to show a purpose or intention and usually follow nouns of time, place, manner and quantity:

time to go
the place to visit
a way to look at it
a lot to look at

Nouns followed by the to-infinitive are related to verbs also followed by the to-infinitive (e.g. decide/decision; plan/plan):

a decision to expand (decide to)
our plan to build a new hospital (plan to)