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noun phrase

noun

, Grammar.
  1. a construction that functions syntactically as a noun, consisting of a noun and any modifiers, as all the men in the room who are reading books, or of a noun substitute, as a pronoun.


noun phrase

noun

  1. grammar a constituent of a sentence that consists of a noun and any modifiers it may have a noun clause, or a word, such as a pronoun, that takes the place of a noun NP
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of noun phrase1

First recorded in 1950–55
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Example Sentences

But to encourage the reader to parse it as a noun phrase, he should have set up a context in which the reader indeed expects to see a noun phrase.

It’s because “to greenlight” was formed anew from a noun phrase, “a green light”.

Why does such an unremarkable noun phrase rankle so badly?

The can be merged with cat to give a noun phrase, which other grammar rules can operate on as if it were a bare noun like water.

For his part, Pinker shows that the problem evaporates when you understand that “like” may take a clause as well as a noun phrase as its complement.

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noun incorporationnounself pronoun