Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

Order of elements in the noun phrase

pre-head

head

post-head

determiners

premodifiers

complements

postmodifiers

silence

those

books

cheap 

|

red

shoes

its

smooth 

|

wood

surface

my own

personal

space

some

baked

potatoes

many big

towns

nearby

the

first 

chapter

of the book

all

university

students

the

killer

of seventeen-year-

old Maria Nixon

a

mother

of two children 

under five

the

car

(that) he was

driving

some

recent

films

which have been on

general release and

which have made

millions of dollars

a

letter

saying when it will

happen

a

long-awaited 

|

government

report

published last week

a 

drawer

full of pens and

pencils

his

recent

claim

that he was 

which was 

innocent,

broadcast on state

radio and TV

Û

176–196 Nouns and determiners; 236–241 Adjectives and adjective phrases

324 | The noun phrase

Cambridge Grammar of English

---

MODIFIERS

170

Types of premodifier and postmodifier

170a

The main types of premodifier are:

● adjective phrases:

a 

different bus; a very important meeting; a stabbing pain; a hastily written

request

● noun phrases:

a 

stone wall; media hype; a first-year undergraduate seminar

The main types of postmodifier are:

● full relative clauses:

the newspaper 

I have always bought; the fighting which accompanies every

international football match between the two countries

● -ing relative clauses:

that short fat man 

walking through the shop

● -ed relative clauses:

the six Cuban nationals

held in custody by rebel soldiers

● to-infinitive relative clauses:

We had a long journey 

to make before nightfall.

● prepositional phrases:

Those piles 

on the floor are exam papers from last year.

● adjective phrases which include a complement of the adjective:

a jacket

similar to yours; parents eager to support their children’s efforts

Noun phrases can involve several of the above elements. The table shows

examples of noun phrases which include premodification and postmodification

occurring together:

Noun phrases with premodification and postmodification

determiner

premodification

head

postmodification

the

small 

|

stone

cottage

which he bought three years ago

an

ancient 

|

market

town

in the heart of the country

a

new 

|

staff

structure

for the company

some

very sudden

changes

caused by an area of low pressure

many

brave

soldiers

willing to volunteer

Û

236–241 Adjectives and adjective phrases

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

The noun phrase | 325

---

Premodification involving noun phrases

170b

Even though premodifying noun phrases may have plural reference, they are

singular in form:

the 

postgraduate regulations

(i.e. the regulations for postgraduates)

(the postgraduates regulations)

✪

This is particularly notable with expressions of measurement:

a 

three-day journey

(a three-days journey)

a 

300-seat auditorium

(a 300-seats auditorium)

Several noun premodifiers often occur together. This occurs frequently where it is

important to compress as much information as possible in a limited space:

cottage-style kitchen window

two-button cotton summer jacket

(product description)

Italian pesto chicken pasta

(menu or description of a food dish)

Such structures also occur in everyday usage when speakers need to convey

detailed information economically:

That 

first floor flat front door key needs replacing.

I’ve got 

twenty year-three geography essays to mark.

Sometimes this kind of information packing can cause ambiguities, though

alternative interpretations are usually resolved in context:

a 

French Canadian literature professor

This phrase could be interpreted as ‘a professor of Canadian literature who is

French’ or ‘a professor of literature who is a French Canadian’ or ‘a professor of

French Canadian literature’.

Û

also 174 The noun phrase in speech and writing

Noun modifier versus prepositional phrase

170c

In general, noun modifier and compound structures are preferred to noun +

prepositional structures when referring to familiar, everyday entities:

a world map

(a familiar object)

326 | The noun phrase

Cambridge Grammar of English

---

a map of the Nile Delta

(a less common combination; preferred to ‘a Nile Delta map’)

road signs

(familiar and everyday sights)

signs of frustration

(occurring in more specific circumstances – preferred to ‘frustration signs’)

In the case of phrases which refer to units, parts and collections of things,

normally referred to as partitive expressions (a piece of paper, a bunch of roses,

four slices of ham

), noun + preposition + noun forms are preferred. Thus four

slices of ham

is preferred to four ham slices.

A–Z

55 Of 

Û

also 179 Partitive expressions

POSTMODIFIERS

171

Clauses as postmodifiers

171a

Finite relative clauses

Clauses acting as postmodifiers are relative clauses. Finite relative clauses are

introduced by the pronouns who, whom, whose, which, that or a ‘zero’ relative

pronoun:

That’s the 

group

to whom they should consider making an incentive payment

.

The police haven’t even interviewed those 

people

whose house was burgled

.

I’ve left some 

books

which you’ll need 

in the main office.

That 

car

that she wanted 

has been sold.

Did you make the 

call

he asked you to make

? 

(‘zero’ relative pronoun)

Û

204 Relative pronouns 

Postmodifying relative clauses are of two types: defining and non-defining. A

defining relative clause identifies the noun which it postmodifies and distinguishes

it from other nouns. In the following sentence, who lives abroad tells us that there

is more than one sister and identifies the one who lives abroad as the one who is ill:

His sister 

who lives abroad got taken seriously ill.

Non-defining relative clauses provide further information about the preceding

noun but do not identify it. In the following sentence, the relative clause simply

adds extra information about the sister, rather than defining her:

His sister,

who lives abroad, got taken seriously ill.

The different punctuation reflects these differences in meaning. 

Û

539 Glossary for any unfamiliar terms

The noun phrase | 327

---

Defining and non-defining relative clauses are also termed restrictive and 

non-restrictive clauses. 

Û

317 Relative clauses

Non-finite relative clauses

Postmodifying relative clauses may also be non-finite. The common types of 

non-finite relative clause are (in green):

● -ing clauses:

It’s got 

a walled garden

consisting of a stone arch and two sections for

vegetables

.

The guy

running the event 

looks pretty well-off, doesn’t he?

● -ed clauses:

The effort 

required to lift these weights 

is considerable.

The protests

caused by the lack of tickets

were the responsibility of the 

organisers.

● to-infinitive clauses:

He certainly is 

an actor

to watch out for

.

Pictures

to be seen in the gallery 

include a fine eighteenth-century watercolour.

Non-finite relative clauses can be defining or non-defining:

I’m looking for 

a house

to buy

.

(defining)

A large sum of money, 

donated by Petsmart foods

, has also been invested in 

improved kennel facilities.

(non-defining)

Prepositional phrases as postmodifiers

171b

Prepositional phrases are an extremely common type of postmodifier. They

function in a manner similar to defining relative clauses:

Cars

with disc brakes on all four wheels

have been proved to be safer.

(Cars which have disc brakes on all four wheels …)

The five main proposals

in the plan 

were considered at yesterday’s meeting.

(The five main proposals which are in the plan …)

He has lots of friends but that was 

a friend 

of long standing

.

(… but that was a friend who was of long standing)

328 | The noun phrase

Cambridge Grammar of English

---

COMPLEMENTS

172

Clauses as complements

172a

Types of noun that take complement clauses

The majority of the nouns that take complement clauses are nouns which are

derived from verbs (e.g. suggestion is derived from suggest) or nouns which are

semantically related to verbs (e.g. the nouns author and writer are related to the

verb write).

That-clauses

Clauses acting as complements are often that-clauses. On the surface these may

resemble postmodifying defining relative clauses with that. However, the

difference can be demonstrated:

The suggestion 

that they put forward was accepted.

The suggestion 

that he should resign was accepted.

In the first sentence, which involves a postmodifying relative clause, the

suggestion

is defined and identified, and that can be substituted by which or it can

be omitted (i.e. the clause can have a zero relative pronoun). In the second

sentence, that cannot be omitted (i.e. the clause cannot have a zero relative

pronoun), which cannot substitute for that, and the whole clause completes the

meaning of the ‘suggestion’. 

Noun complement clauses with that are very common in formal written

contexts, especially academic writing and journalism:

The fact

that he was calm

did not influence the jury.

Why has 

the impression

that he is about to give large sums of money to the

cause

grown up so quickly among his supporters?

The belief 

that prejudice is largely an ethnic issue 

has dominated the political 

agenda.

Other types of clause

Less common types of noun complement clause include:

● to-infinitive clause:

The decision 

to go ahead

was not a popular one.

● defining wh-interrogative clause:

That’s part of 

the reason

why we bought it

.

● as to + wh-clause (mainly with whether):

There were a number of 

reservations

as to whether they should be allowed to