English Grammar

Group members:
1. Le Thi Hoai Thanh
2. Nguyen Hanh Le
3. Tran Thi Ut Tram
4. Hoang Thi Thu Huong
5. Le Thi Thu Phuong
6. Nguyen Thi Thu Trang
Definition : Nouns are words that name people, places,
things, or ideas.
thing
Noun classes
idea

person Proper Common

nouns nouns
place
Proper nouns

Personal geographical calendar institutions/

names names items organizations

Bill Clinton the Nile Easter the UNICEF

Common nouns

Count Ns Non-count Ns

car Singular
Singular

cars Plural
salt
Noun classes

Proper nouns Common nouns

E.g. Tom, John

Count Ns Non-count Ns

Singular Plural Singular

table tables freedom

Definition: A noun phrase is a group word with a noun or a
pronoun as the head & other constituents as modifiers.

 Example: The second black bag on the table is very nice.

art numeral adj head PP
 Functions: noun phrases perform 6 major
grammatical functions in the English language:

1. Subject: This book is very interesting.

S
2. Direct Object: Mary kicked the ball.
Od
3. Indirect Object: He gives his father a hat.
Oi
4. Subject Complement
Ex: He is a student.
S Cs
5. Object Complement:
Ex: We elected you team leader
O Co
6. Prepositional Complement
Ex: I work in this company.
PP Cpp
Basic NP

(Determiners) + Head noun

Determiners = words of close-system used before a
N to “determine” the precise meaning of
the N.

Pre-determiners

( Central ) Determiners

Post-determiners
Pre-determiners All, Both, Half

Multipliers

Fractions

such , what (exclamative).

Pre-determiners All, Both, Half

+ Before: - Articles ( a, an, the, zero articles)

Ex: All the time
- Possessive determiners (my, her ,his, etc.)
Ex: Both his sisters
- Demonstrative determiners ( this, that, these, etc.)
Ex: Half those days.
+ Not before: Quantitative determiners (no, each, any, some,
enough, (n)either, every)
Pre-determiners All, Both, Half

+ Take partitive “ of-phrases” Optional with Nouns

Ex: All (of) the time
Obligatory with pronouns
Ex: All of them, both of us, Half of it
+ “All, both” occur after head, either immediately or after the operator
Ex: They (all) were (all) accepted.
Pre-determiners Multipliers Once, twice, three
times, double, etc.

+ Used to denote the quality of the nouns

Ex: Twice his strength
Double their papers
+ Occur with the determiners “a, every, each” and “per”
to indicate frequency.
Ex: Once a week
Twice every day
Three time each year
Pre-determiners Fractions one-third, two-fifths,
three- quarters, etc .

+ The fraction have the alternative of-construction.

Ex: One-third (of ) the time .
Two-fifths (of) the students.
+ The indefinite article can replace “one”
Ex: He did it in one-third/ a third of the time it took me
Pre-determiners such , what (exclamative).

+ Occur before the head noun .

+ “ Such” combined with “all/no, quantifiers,

cardinal numbers”
Ex:No/many/30 such incidents
( Central ) Determiners

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

Possessiv
e : My, Zero (A)n every,
our, her, Article each,
.etc...Wh- This, , Those much
some, (n)either
words, any That These
some, any (unstress
(stressed), ed)
no enough
(central) Determiners respect to their co-
occurrence with the noun classes

Count Non-count

SINGULAR bottle
furniture
PLURAL bottles
( Central ) Determiners 


Ex:

(1) The Possessive („my‟,

„your‟, 'his‟, etc.) Book
Genitive („my father‟s‟,
„Anne‟s‟, etc.)
Possessiv
No + Books
e : My,
our, her,
Whose
.etc... Which (ever)
What (ever)
Some (stressed) Ink
Any (stressed)
( Central ) Determiners


Ex:
(2)

Zero article
Zero
Some Books
Article
some, (unstressed) +
any Any ink
(unstress
ed)
(unstressed)
enough enough
( Central ) Determiners 

Ex:

(3)
An/a Book
(A)n every, every
each,
each +
(n)either ink
either
neither
( Central ) Determiners 

Ex:
(4)

This Book
+
This,
That
That ink
( Central ) Determiners

Ex:
(5)

Those Book
+
, Those
These
These
ink
( Central ) Determiners

Ex:
(6)
Much + Ink

much


Post-determiners

Cardinal numerals

Ordinal numerals

closed-system quantifiers

Opened-system quantifiers
Post-determiners

Cardinal numerals

- Apart from One , which can co-occur only with singular

count nouns , all cardinal numerals ( two, three...) co-
occur only with plural count nouns:

Ex: The two students The two cars

Det post-det head Det post-det head
Post-determiners

Ordinal numerals

-In addtion to the ordinals which have a one-for-one relation with the
cardinals ( fourth~four; twentieth-twenty), we consider here items like next,
last, (an) other, additional, which resemble them grammtically and
semantically.Ordinal numerals, exept first, co-occur only with count nouns.

Ex: The first three planes His last two book

Det post-det head Det post-det head
Post-determiners

close-system quantifiers

-Before count Ns: many , (a)few, several

-Before non-count Ns: much, (a) little

Ex: The few words Much stress

Det post-det head post-det head
Post-determiners

Open-system quantifiers

-Include : plenty of, a lot of, lost of, a great of, a large
of etc.
-Verbs have number concord with the second nouns
, not the quality nouns (lot, deal, lost, plenty, etc.)
Ex: Lots of food was on the table.
There was a lot of food on the table
I. Structure
- Noun phrases play an important role in the construction
of a sentence.

- Basic noun phrases can be pronouns, numerals or head

nouns with different determiners while complex ones
include pre-modification, head noun and post-
modification
Complex NP

Pre- Post-
+ Head noun + modification
modification
E.g.: All the 11 pupils playing football
Pre-modification Head noun Post-
modification

Three Three men In a boat

The Italian Expression For coffee

A Pen On the table

 Modifiers before the noun are called pre-modifiers. All of
the pre-modifiers that are present and the noun together
form a noun phrase .
NOUN PHRASE
 pre-modifiers noun
* ←
 white house
* ←
 large man
* ←
 post -modifiers—modifiers coming after a noun.
a dream deferred
→ *
 A "head noun" is the main noun that is modified by other
elements in a noun phrase.
 It is important that you can find head nouns, because this
allows you determine whether the phrase can take an
indefinite article (if the head noun is a noncountnoun, then it
cannot occur with 'a' or 'an')..
 Like in the basic noun phrase, the head noun, first of all, is
the central element and core component of the complex
noun phrase.
 It may be count or mass noun which dictates concord and
(for the most part) other kinds of congruence with the rest of
the sentence outside the noun phrase.
 Ex: The only girl in this class is hard working
head
- All of the beautiful girls in my class are kind
- I like the car that you bought.

Car is the head noun because the adjective

clause modifies it.
.
 Look at these examples. The head nouns
are underlined. Notice that the head noun is NOT
the noun right before the adjective clause.
 Ex:. The people in Japan I met were very polite and
friendly.
Modification

function status

Restrictive Permanent

Non-restrictive Temporary
Modification

• helps identify the head & indicate a

function limitation on the possible reference
status of the
head
Restrictive • tends toPermanent
come after the head
• tends to be given more prosodic emphasis
than the head
Non-restrictive Temporary
E.g.: The flowers in your garden are nice.
He visited his aunt who often lent
him money.
Modification

• gives additional information to the head

but is not essential for identifying the
function status
head
Restrictive • the reference: unique or as member of a
Permanent
class that has been independently identified
• tends to come before the head
Non-restrictive • tends to beTemporary
unstressed in pre-head position
E.g.: The book, which I gave you yesterday,
is quite readable. (member of a class)
She is his poor, old mother. (unique)
Modification

function status
• Have reference to characteristic
features Non-restrictive Permanent
• Mainly the items which are placed
in pre- Restrictive Temporary
modification position
E.g.: an ugly man
the easy-going lady
Modification

• Havefunction
reference only to a specific status
time
• Mainly those adjectives which have
Non-restrictive Permanent

to be
predicate Restrictive Temporary
E.g.:
A man who is timid = A timid man
A man who is afraid # An afraid man
•Pre- modification including modifiers that stand before the
head off complex NP.

• modifiers is a word (adj, adv…) that describes an other

word or group of words or restrict its, meaning in some
way. IT is the unit of forming a structure element.

• modification is the act or process of changing

something in order to improve it or make it more
acceptable. It is the structure element
Premodification

Predeterminer
Determiner
Determiner
Adjectives
Post-determiner
participle

Adverbial

Noun modifier

Sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Overview
Premodification
Predeterminer

determiner Determiner

Determiner Post-determiner

participle

Adverbial

Sentence

Noun modifier

Multiple premodifi-cation
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner

Adjectives age

participle
shape

Adverbial
color
Sentence
origion
Noun modifier

material
Multiple premodifi-cation

purpose
opinion
Premodification
Beautiful, good
Size
Determiner

Adjectives age

participle
shape

Adverbial
Color
Noun modifier
origin
Sentence

material
Multiple premodifi-cation

purpose
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner Big, small
age
Adjectives

participle shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
origin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner

age
Adjectives
Big, small
participle shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
origin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
Premodification opinion

size
Determiner

age
Adjectives
Old, young
participle shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
origin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
Premodification opinion

size
Determiner

age
Adjectives

participle shape
Square, round
Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
origin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner

age
Adjectives

participle Shape

Adverbial Color
Blue, red…
Noun modifier
origin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner

age
Adjectives

participle Shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
origin
Sentence English, chinese
material
Multiple premodifi-cation
purpose
Premodification opinion

size
Determiner

age
Adjectives

participle Shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
orifin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation metal.,
purpose
opinion
Premodification
size
Determiner

age
Adjectives

participle Shape

Adverbial Color

Noun modifier
orifin
Sentence
material
Multiple premodifi-cation metal.,
material
article opinion size age shape color origin material purpose noun

1. a silly old English man

2. a huge round metal bowl

3. a small red sleeping bag

Premodifying
intensifying
adjective
a real hero, a definite loss, a
Gennerally complete fool, a close friend
attribute only reverse

restrict the reference a certain person

Restrictive of the noun the exact answer
adjectives exclusively, the only occasion
particularly or chiefly the very man.

attributive only

adjectives which
cannot pre-modify faint, ill, well,
the head, but can be able, afraid,etc.
predicative
Premodification by participle
Premodification

Determiner

adjective -ing

participle

Adverbial -ed

Noun modifier

Sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Premodification by participle

-ing participle: temporary: the approaching train

(=the train which is approaching)
Permanent: an interesting book
(=a book that interests readers).

-ed participle: passive: the broken vase

(=the vase that was broken)
Non-passive: a retired teacher
(=a teacher who has retired)
Premodification by adverbs
Premodification

Determiner

adjective

participle

adverbial

Noun modifier

Sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Standing before noun to modify it.
The chidren are playing nearly house
My house have to go to far-away school.
Eg: I visited his far-away hometown.
Overview
Premodification

Determiner

adjective

participle

adverbial

Noun modifier

Sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Noun modifiers
“a children book”
“a children book” means a book for children
the city council, the love story…
Or I bought a new computer game

In these cases the noun pre-modifier is closely connected to the

head noun that the two can almost be considered one word.

This illustrates that when nouns pre-modify other nouns they

always come next to the head noun ; nothing else can come
between them
Overview
Premodification

Determiner

adjective

participle

adverbial

Noun modifier

sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Sentence modifiers

I gave him “I don’t know” answer.

I got angry with his I-don’t-care
attitude.
Overview
Premodification

Determiner

adjective

participle

adverbial

Noun modifier

Sentence

Multiple premodifi-cation
Multiple premodifi-cation
Premodifiers head noun

Deter adj participle denonial

Predet det postdet gen age col shape… -ing/-ed adj noun

This beautiful new white Japanese cat.

The old pentagonal crumbling church tower.

+ multiple head with one modifier
Old man and women
+modified modifier
A noun can be premodified by either adjective or noun….

The meat production increase measures.

The extremely beautiful pictures.

 Definition of post – modification
Post – modification ( also called post – modifiers )
comprising all the items placed after the head.
 The girl speaking English fluently.

Head post – modification

 The man who is standing outside is my neighbor.

Head post - modifier

 Relative clause
Ex : the girl who is playing in the ground is my
daughter.
 Nonfinite clause
Ex : the girl playing in the ground is my daughter.
 Prepositional phrase/adverb
Ex : she loves the monitor in your class.
Determiner head post modifiers
 The man who told you the secret.
Finite clause
 The girl speaking English fluently
Nonfinite clause
 A book with the white cover
Prepositional phrase
 The road back
Adverb
 Post – modification by relative clause ( finite clause )
which can be restrictive or non – restrictive.
 People who live in Vietnam are friendly and
hospitable.
 Restrictive relative clause
 The boy who lives next door is very kind and polite.
 Restrictive relative clause
 Tom’s father, who is 78, goes swimming everyday.
 Non- restrictive
 Restrictive relative clause
_ help to definite the head noun
_it is a essential clause to clarify it
_ no commas between a noun and a restrictive relative
clause.
 Non – restrictive relative clause
_ give additional information
_ it is not essential
_ non – restrictive relative clauses are separated from
their noun by commas
There are a number of relative clauses beginning with
relative English pronoun ‘ who, whom, whose, that ‘ (
for personal ); which, that, what ( for things)….
 Post – modification of the noun phrase is possible
with all three of non – finite clause types : to –
infinitive, -ing, -ed.
The next flight to arrive was from London
To – infinitive
 The beautiful girl speaking English fluently
-ing clause
 The vase broken during the row
-ed clause
 A man from Britain who I was talking about last night.
prepositional phrase relative clause
 The book on the bathroom floor is swollen from
shower steam.
Prepositional phrase