The Noun Phrase

The noun phrase is a group of words that ends with a noun. It can contain determiners (the, a, this, etc), adjective, adverbs, and nouns. It CANNOT begin with a preposition. Remember that both subjects and complements are generally noun phrases.

COUNT AND NON-COUNT NOUNS

A count noun is one that can be counted

Examples

Book-one book, two books, three books,.......

Student-one student, two students, three students,...

Person-one person, two people, three people

An non-count noun that cannot be counted

Example

Milk-you cannot say: one milk, two milks.......

It is possible, however, to count some non-count nouns if the substance is placed in a countable container.

Example

Glass of milk- one glass of milk, two glasses of milk,......

Some determiners can be used only with count or non-count nouns, while others can be used with either. Memorize this words in the following chart

With count nouns	With non-count nouns
A, the, some, any	The, some, any
This, that, these, those	This, that
None, one, two, three,...	None
Many A lot of A large number of A great number of (A) few Fewer..than More..than	Much (usually in negatives or questions) A lot of A large amount of (A) little Less..than More..than

It is very important to know if a noun is count or non-count. Students often make mistakes with the following nouns. Be sure that you know the plurals of irregular count nouns. The following list contains some irregular count noun that you should know

Singular	Plural
Person	People
Foot	Feet
Child	Children
Mouse	Mice
Tooth	Teeth

The following list contains some non-count nouns that you should know

Sand	Soap	Physics	Mathematics
News	Mumps	Air	Politics
Measles	Information	Meat	Homework
Food	Economics	advertising*	Money

*Note: although advertising is a non-count noun, advertisement is a count noun. If you wish to speak of one particular advertisement, you must use this word

There are too many advertisements during television shows

Some non-count nouns, such as food, meat, money, and san, may be used as count nouns in order to indicate different types.

Examples

This is one of foods that my doctor has forbidden me to eat

(Indicates a particular type of food)

He studies meats

(For example: beef, pork, lamb, etc)

The word time can be either countable or non-countable depending on the content. When it means an occasion, it is countable. When it means the number of hours, days, years, etc, it is non-countable

We have spent too much time on this homework (non-count)

She has been late for class six times this semester (count)

To decide if a noun that you are not sure of is countable or non-countable, decide of you can say: one...................or a……………… for example, you can say “one book” so it is a count noun. You cannot say “one money” so it is not a count noun. Also, of course, by the very nature of non-count nouns, a non-count can never be plural. Remember that, while some of the nouns in the list of non-count nouns appear to be plural because they end in “s”, the are actually not plural.

EXERCISE 1

Identify the following noun as count nouns or non-count nouns according to their usual meaning

Television

Car

News

Geography

Atmosphere

Person

Water

Pencil

Food

Tooth

Soap

Soup

Cup

Money

Hydrogen

Minute

EXERCISE 2

Choose the correct determiners in the following sentences

1. He doesn’t have (many/much) money
2. I would like (a few/a little) salt on my vegetables.
3. She bought (that/those) cards last night.
4. There are (less/fewer) students in this room than in the next room.
5. There is (too much/too many) bad news on television tonight.
6. I do not want (these/this) water.
7. This is (too many/too much) information to learn.
8. A (few/little) people left early.
9. Would you like (less/fewer) coffee than this?
10. This jacket costs (too much/too many).

A and AN

A or an can precede only singular count nouns; they mean one. They can be used in a general statement or to introduce a subject which has not been previously mentioned.

Examples:

A baseball is round (general-means all baseballs)

I saw a boy in the street (we don’t know which boy)

An is used before words that begin with a vowel sound. A is used before words with a consonant sound

Examples:

A book                                                         an apple

Some words can be confusing because the spelling does not indicate the pronunciation.

Example

A house (begin with a consonant sound)

An hour (begin with a vowel sound)

A university (begins with a consonant sound)

An umbrella (begins with a vowel sound)

The following words begin with a consonant sound and thus must always be preceded by a

House	University	half
Uniform	Heavy	union
Home	Universal

The following words begin with a vowel sound and thus must always be preceded by an

Uncle

umbrella

hour

Heir

The initial sound of the word that immediately follows the indefinite articles will determine whether it should be a or an

An umbrella                                                       a white umbrella

An hour                                                              a whole hour

THE

The is used to indicate something that we already know about or something that is common knowledge.

Examples:

The boy in the corner is my friends      (the speaker and the listener know which boys)

The earth is round                                 (there is only one earth)

With non-count nouns, one uses the articles the if speaking in specific terms, but uses no article if speaking in general.

Examples:

Sugar is sweet                                        (general-all sugar)

The sugar on the table is from Cuba     (Specific-the sugar that is on the table)

Normally, plural count nouns, when they mean everything within a certain class, are not preceded by the

Examples:

Oranges are green until they ripen                 (all oranges)

Athletes should follow a well-balanced diet  (all athletes)

Normally a proper noun is not preceded by an article unless there are several people or things with the same name and the speaker is specifying one of them

Examples:

There are three Susan Parkers in the telephones directory

The Susan Parker that I know lives on First Avenue.

Normally words such as breakfast, lunch, dinner, school, church, home and collage do not use any article unless to restrict the meaning

Examples:

We ate breakfast at eight o’clock this morning

We went to school yesterday

Use the following generalization as a guide for the use of the article the

Use THE with	Don’t use THE with
Ocean, rivers, seas, gulfs, plural lakes Examples: The Red Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, The Persian Gulf, the Great lakes	Singular lake Examples: Lake Geneva, Lake Erie
Mountains Examples: The Rocky Mountains, The Andes	Mounts Examples; Mount Vesuvius, Mount McKinley
Earth, moon Examples: The Earth, The Moon	Planets, constellations Examples: Mars, Venus, Orion
School, colleges, universities when the phrase begins with school, etc.. Examples: The University of Florida, the College of Arts and Science	School, colleges, universities when the phrase begins with a proper noun Examples: Santa Fe Community Collage, Cooper’s Art School, Stetson University
Ordinal number before nouns Examples: The First World War, the third chapter	Cardinal numbers after nouns Examples: World War One, chapter three
Wars (except world war) Examples: The Crimean War, the Korean War
Countries with more than one word (except Great Britain) Examples: The United States, the Central African Republic	Countries with one word Examples: China, Venezuela, France, Indonesia Continents Example: Europe, Africa, America, Asia States Examples: Florida, Ohio, California
Historical documents Examples: The Constitution, the Magna Carta
Ethnic groups Examples: The Indians, the Aztecs
	Sports Examples: Baseball, Basketball Abstract nouns Examples: Happiness, freedom General areas of subject matter Examples: Mathematics, Sociology, Biology Holidays Examples: Christmas, Thanksgiving

EXERCISE 3

In the following sentences supply the articles (a, an, or the) if they are necessary. If no article is necessary, leave the space blank

1. Jason’s father bought him………bicycle that he had wanted for his birthday
2. ………..Statue of Liberty was a gift of friendship form……….France to …….. United States.
3. Rita is studying………English and………Math this semester
4. ………the judge asked………witness to tell……..truth.
5. Please give me……….cup of………coffee with…….cream and………. Sugar
6. …….big books on……..table are for my history class
7. No one in………Spanish class knew……..correct answer to……. Mrs Perez’s question.
8. My………. Car is hour years old and it still runs well.
9. When you go to……..store, please buy………bottle of……..chocolate milk and…….dozen oranges
10. There are only……few seats left for……..tonight’s musical at…….. University.
11. John and Marcy went to…….school yesterday and then studied in…….. library before returning home
12. …….Lake Erie is one of …….five Great lakes in ……..North America
13. on our trip to……..Spain, we crossed…….Atlantic Ocean
14. …....mount Rushmore is the site of ………magnificent tribute to……. four great American presidents
15. what did you eat for…….breakfast this morning
16. Louie Played……..basketball and…….baseball at……Boy’s Club this year
17. Rita Plays…….violin and her sister plays…….guitar
18. While we were in…….Alaska we saw……Eskimo village.
19. Phil can’t go to…….movies tonight because he has to write…….essay
20. David attended…….Princeton University
21. Harry has been admitted to……..school of Medicine at……Midwestern university.
22. Mel’s grandmother is in……hospital, so we went to visit her…….last night.
23. …….Political science class is taking…….trip to…….Soviet Union in…….spring
24. ........Queen Elizabeth II is…….Monarch of…….Great Britain
25. ........Declaration of Independence was drawn up in 1776.
26. Scientist hope to send……expedition to…….Mars during……1980s
27. Last night there was……..bird singing outside my house.
28. …….chair that you are sitting in is broken.
29. .........Civil War was fought in…….. United States between 1861 and 1865
30. .........Florida State University is smaller than…….. University of Florida

OTHER

The use of the word other is often a cause of confusion for foreign students. Study the following formulas.

With count nouns	With non-count nouns
An + other + singular noun (one more) Example: Another pencil = one more pencil
The other + singular noun (last of the set) Example: The other pencil = the last pencil present
Other + Plural noun (more of the set) Example: Other Pencils = some more pencils	Other + non-counts (more of set) Example: Other water = some more water
The other + plural noun Example: The other pencils = all remaining pencils	The other + non-count (all the rest) Example: The other water = the remaining water

Note: another and other are nonspecific while the other is specific. If the subject is understood, one can omit the noun and keep the determiner and other so that other functions as a pronoun. If it plural count noun that is omitted, other becomes others. The word other can never be plural if it is followed by noun

Examples:

I don’t want this book. Please give me another

(another = any other book-not specific)

I don’t want this book. Please give me the other

(the other – the other book-specific)

This chemical is poisonous. Others are poisonous too.

(others = other chemicals – not specific)

I don’t want these books. Please give me the others.

(the others = the other books – specific)

Note: another way of substituting for the noun is to use other + one  or ones

Examples:

I don’t want this book. Please give me another one

I don’t want this book. Please give me the other one.

This chemical is poisonous. Others are poisonous too.

I don’t want these books. Please give me the other ones.

EXERCISE 4

Fill the blank with the appropriate form of other

1. This pen isn’t working. Please give me………………(singular)
2. If you’re still thirsty, I’ll make………….pot of coffee
3. This dictionary has a page missing. Please give me…………….(the last one)
4. He does not need those books. He needs………………..(all the remaining)
5. There are thirty people in the room. Twenty are from Latin America and…………are from…………countries.
6. Six people were in the store. Two were buying meat. …………..was looking at magazine………………..was eating a candy bar. …………….were walking around looking for more food. (notice the verb)
7. This glass of milk is sour. ………..glass of milk is sour too.
8. The army was practicing its drills. One group was doing artillery practice. …………..was marching;….…………..was at attention; and………………… was practicing  combat tactic.
9. There are seven students from Japan. ………….are from Iran, and……………. Are from………………..places
10. We looked at four cars today. The firs two were far too expensive, but ……………… ones were reasonably priced.

Based on: M. A. Pyle and M. E. Munoz (1985). Cliffs TOEFL Preparation Guide. Singapore: John Willey and Sons