20
Men and women
Noun p hrases
A noun phrase gives extra inform ation about the subject or object of a sentence. The extra
inform ation in a noun phrase can come before and/or a fte r the main noun as follows:
D e te rm in e r/q u a n tifie r + adjective(s) +
NOUN + prepositional phrase + relative clause
The recent
increase of fem ale graduates who have studied technical subjects...
The = d e te rm in e r /
recent = adjective /
increase = noun /
in female graduates = prepositional
phrase /
who have studied technical subjects = relative clause
Noun phrases can contain one, some or a ll of these parts.
It is im po rta n t to notice where the noun phrase begins and ends in a sentence to help you
understand what the sentence means. The way to do this is to find the verb in the sentence;
everything before the verb is the subject noun phrase and everything that comes a fte r the verb is
the object noun phrase.
The recent increase in fem ale graduates who have studied technical subjects has changed the
m odern job m arket.
(noun phrase & subject) + (verb in the sin g u la r form because it agrees w ith
increase) + (noun
phrase & object]