The structure of phrases Flashcards
What are determiners?
function words that occur at the beginning of a noun phrase and are followed by a noun
What does determiners indicate?
definiteness, number, ownership and distance
Can pronouns be used instead of nouns?
yes, “she” instead of Mary , “yours instead of bicyle”
What types of determiners are not used with uncountable nouns?
Indefinite, a, an, numbers and other quantifying determiners that imply number
Are quantifying determiners used with countable nouns?
no, thus we say little/less sugar, but a few/fewer carrots.
what does determiners and modifiers do?
They add information to the head noun
What does a determiner do in a noun phrase?
They spesify the head noun with respect to their features, such as number (a, one, all) definitieness (the, distance, this, that) and ownership ( my, your, its)
what does modifiers do?
They add to the meaning of the noun by giving a description or characterisation of it.
what are modifiers that come before the head called?
pre-modifiers (typically adjective and adjective phrases)
what are modifiers that come after the head noun called ?
post-modifiers
Can a noun be pre-modified by another noun?
Yes, crime fiction, kitchen sink.
a post-modifier is usally a ?
prepositional phrase, but may also be a dependent clause and adjective phrase
