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Complex noun phrasesNext in our series of posts on how to reach a band 7 in grammar is how to form complex noun phrases. Effectively using complex noun phrases makes your writing more academic and precise. Articles written by native speakers generally contain a lot of complex noun phrases and so studying these phrases will help you with reading comprehension as well. This post will:…start with the basics of noun phrases.…help you to identify post modified noun phrases.…give you practice writing complex noun phrases.The basicsNouns are modified. This means that other words are used with nouns to provide more precise information. For example:The sofa (determiner + noun)Fat cat (adjective +noun)Our fattest cat (determiner + adjective + noun)All the potatoes (quantifier + determiner + noun)Both of my recent successes (quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun)You should already be familiar with how to modify noun phrases by using quantifiers, determiners and adjectives. Now let’s look at some more complex noun phrases.Post Modifying NounsIn order to create complex noun phrases, we put information after the noun we are modifying. A number of different grammatical structures can be used for doing this.Look at the examples of post modified nouns below. The main noun (head) is in bold.The percentage of people in full time work increased steadily.People owning their own homes are angry with the new tax.Both of the people who I share a flat with are nurses.I dislike the idea that public transportation is only for the poor.I like anything to do with astronomy. Each example shows a different structure post modifying the noun in bold. Let’s investigate what they are.Prepositional phrases (preposition + noun) prepositional phrases starting with the preposition ‘of’ are very common in academic writing.-the amount of… / the number of … / the percentage of …Ing-verb phraseRelative clauseThat clause (often used to explain, summarize or report)To Infinitive (to +verb) This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbsNoun phrases are often modified by more than one structure. For example:Antique cars which are bought in SE Asia are resold in AustraliaThe noun ‘cars’ is pre modified with the adjective ‘antique’It is post modified with a relative clause (which…bought) and a prepositional clause (in…Asia).Task 1The head of each noun phrase is in bold. How are these noun phrases post modified? Choose an option from the drop down box.The fact that people didn’t vote for him lost him the election. (that clause)The man living next door to me is very friendly. (ing-verb phrase)The amount of money goes up every year. (prepositional phrase)The report which the government released proved to be very controversial (relative clause)The proportion of unemployed mothers fell through the nineties. (prepositional phrase) People laughed at the decision that the local community should fund the project. (that clause)Buckingham palace in central London must be one of the most expensive houses in the world. (prepositional phrase)As she got older, my grandma needed someone to help her around the house. (to infinitive)I really like watching documentaries concerning the natural world (ing-verb phrase)A successful small restaurant which is in my hometown is an Italian called Rolling Fork. (relative clause)The main reason for migration was economic. (prepositional phrase)I work for an organization providing free legal aid (ing-verb phrase)that clauserelative clauseing-verb phraseprepositional phraseto infinitiveGreat, now you can identify some different types of post modification and so you can start to apply them to your writing.Task 2 (scrambled sentences?)Use the prompts to help you form complex noun phrases.Point / the / task / of …is to test your ability to use complex noun phrases.The point of the task is to test your ability to use complex noun phrasesThis is… /town / where / the / disaster / place / took.This is the town where the disaster took place.Iron man / people / competing / in the / race …must have a lot of stamina.People competing in the iron man race must have a lot of stamina.One of the reasons…they / that / successful / were / …is the amount of effort they put in.One of the reasons that they were successful is the amount of effort they put in.The / of / voters / who / changed / proportion / party / last / in the …was very dramaticThe proportion of voters who changed party in the last election was very dramatic.Please buy me… to / something / healthy / eat ..when you go to the shop.Please buy me something healthy to eat when you go to the shop.Decision / which /a / hard / to / was / make …was when we were looking for a new house to buy.A decision which was hard to make was when we were looking for a new house to buy. Late / bees / around / flying / in / summer …can be very aggressive. Bees flying around in late summer can be very aggressive.To improve your use of complex noun phrases you should:Notice how nouns are modified when you are doing reading practice with academic texts written by native speakers.Notice how nouns are modified when you are reading example task 1 and 2 responses written by tutors or examiners.Try and use complex noun phrases when you write so you become more use to incorporating them into how you communicate. ................
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