Complex noun phrases

Major components of the noun phrase:

Determiner (absent if head noun is a pronoun)

Premodifiers
Head noun / pronoun
Postmodifiers

E.g. a / small wooden / box / that he owned

There are several different types of premodifiers and postmodifiers.
Premodifiers include primarily adjectives, participial modiers and
other nouns:
Adjective as premodifier: a special project
Participial premodifiers: written reasons; detecting devices
Noun as premodifier: the bus strike
Postmodifers include primarily relative clauses, ing-clauses, edclauses, to-infinitive clauses, prepositional clauses, and noun phrases
in apposition.
Relative clauses as postmodifer: That job I was doing last night
Ing-clause as post modifier: the imperious man standing under the
lamppost
Ed-clause as postmodifier: a stationary element held in position
byu the outer casing
To-infinitive clause as postmodifer: enough money to buy proper
food
Prepositional phrase as postmodifier: doctors at the Johns Hopkins
Medical School
Noun phrase in apposition as postmodifier: the Incian captain,
mohammed azharuddin
Compelment clauses are distinct from postmodifiers in structure
and meaning, thoufh they alsooccur following noun heads. They
involve primarily special kinds of that- and to-clasuses:
The idea that he was completely cold and unemotional
Opccasionally adverbs can also be pre- and post-modifiers in noun
phrases:

The nearby guards / a block behind

Adjectives can also postmodify: all those concerned / someone
smarter
Major structural types of postmodification
Postmodifiers can be both clauses and phrases. Clausal
postmodifiers can be either finite, referred to as relative
clauses, or non-finite. There are three different types of nonfinite postmodifying clauses: to clauses, ing-clauses and edclauses

Finite postmodifying clauses:

Relative clauses:
A footpath which disappeared in a landscape of fields and
trees
Non finite postmodifing clauses:
To-clauses: the way to get to our house
Ing-clauses: rebels advancing rapidly southwards
Ed-clauses: fury fanned by insensitive press coverage.
Noun complement clauses, which differ both structurally and
semantically from other postmodifying clauses are dealt with
in 8.12-14
Prepositional
postmodifier.

phrases

are

the

main

type

of

nonclausal

Prepositional phrase as postmodifier:

A phone with a coumple of buttons on it.
Thress less common types of phrase are used as
postmodifiers: adverb (phrase(, adjective (phrase) and
emphatic reflexive pronoun in apposition:
He was just trapped in there with apparently no way out (adverb)
He will cooperate in any way possible.(adjective)

Reflexive pronouns: he himself paid two visits to the site of

the disaster.