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

Pre- and post-head dependent elements

169b

Two types of dependent element may come before the head in the noun phrase

(i.e. they act as pre-head elements): determiners and premodifiers.

Two types of dependent element may come after the head in the noun phrase

(i.e. they act as post-head elements): postmodifiers and complements. 

Complements versus postmodifiers

169c

Complements and postmodifiers are different in their function. Postmodifiers

specify which person or thing or type of person or thing is being referred to. The

major postmodifier is the relative clause. All the other postmodifiers can be

paraphrased by a relative clause. For example, ‘the house nearby’ can be

paraphrased as ‘the house which is nearby’; ‘the girl in jeans’ can be paraphrased

as ‘the girl who is wearing jeans’.

Complements complete the meaning of the noun phrase. In the noun phrase

the 

claim that they have nuclear weapons, the underlined words complete the

meaning of claim (a claim must be ‘about something’). Complement prepositional

phrases cannot be paraphrased with relative clauses:

a rise 

in interest rates

(a rise which is in interest rates)

the 

mother

of three little children

(the mother who is of three little children)

More than one complement can occur together:

The 

gift |

of the estate

|

to the National Trust

| meant more people could visit it. 

The 

statement |

by the driver of the vehicle

|

that he did not see the lorry

| was

rejected by the Court.