NOUN GROUP

STRUCTURE

TA R A M U S T I K A N I N G PA L U P I
• The noun group contains a Head noun and any other
words (Modifiers) that give us information about this
noun. Modifiers may come before the Head, in which case
they are Pre-‐modifiers; or they may come after the
Head, in which case they are Post-‐ modifiers
 • This paper reports on the three new types of rechargeable batteries
produced in Australia.

the three new types of rechargeble batteries produced in Australia

Premodifiers Head Postmodifier
• Although knowing whether modifying word(s) are positioned before or
after the Head noun is useful to some extent, it does not tell us much
about how these words function in the group: i.e. what role they play in
the group. The most common functions of words in noun groups are
illustrated below:

the three new types of rechargeble batteries produced in Australia

Premodifiers Head Postmodifier
Pointer Numerative Describer Facet Classifier Thing Qualifier

• These parts of the group (i.e. Pointer, Numerative, etc) tend to be

ordered as shown above, with the Pointer found on the far left of the noun
group and the Qualifier on the far right.
 TEXTS 1 AND 2 ILLUSTRATE THE T YPICAL STRUCTURE OF NOUN GROUPS
IN BOTH EMPIRICAL AND NON-‐ EMPIRICAL T YPES OF ACADEMIC
WRITING (NOUN GROUPS IN EACH SENTENCE ARE UNDERLINED).
• Text 1: Science (empirical)

• This project describes the stress corrosion cracking of phosphorus deoxidised copper and 65/35 lead
free brass in both sodium nitrate and commercial inhibitor solutions

• and attempts to characterize the cracking in relation to the various mechanisms proposed.

• The theories of cracking applicable to the copper/nitrate and brass/nitrate systems include the anodic
dissolution, the film-‐rupture, the stress sorption cracking and the embrittlement theories,

• which are described in the literature review.

• The possibility of stress corosion due to the formation of ammonia via the reduction of sodium nitrate
is also reviewed. (student thesis)
•
 Thing

• The core part of the noun group is called the Thing. The Thing may be a concrete
entity such as an object (e.g. batteries) or a person (e.g. engineer). On the other hand, the
Thing may be an abstract concept (e.g. science) or an action expressed in a noun
(e.g. representation, experiment).

• The noun group may contain a Thing only:

batteries (Thing)

or it may be modified by any number of other words:

the three new kinds of rechargeable batteries (Thing) produced in Australia.

• If the Thing is the only word in the group it may be either a noun (e.g. batteries) or a
pronoun, which “stands for” a noun (e.g. they referring to batteries).
 Pointer
• The Thing is often pre-‐modified by a word with a pointing or identifying
function. The Pointer, as it will be called here, suggests whether the Thing
in question can be identified by the reader or not.

• For instance, the article the (e.g. the activities) demonstrative adjectives (e.g.
these activities) and possessive adjectives (e.g. their activities), suggest that the
Thing can be identified specifically and tells us which one (or ones) is/are
being talked about.
POINTER

the nucleus these activities their activities

Pointer Thing Pointer Thing Pointer Thing
specific noun demonstrative noun possessive noun
article adjective adjective

For instance, the article the (e.g. the activities) demonstrative

adjectives (e.g. these activities) and possessive adjectives (e.g.
their activities), suggest that the Thing can be identified
specifically and tells us which one (or ones) is/are being talked
about.
• On the other hand, non-‐specific articles suggest that the Thing
cannot be specifically identified.

a cell
Pointer Thing
non-­‐specific article noun
 Numerative

• The next element in the noun group (working from left to right) is the

Numerative. It indicates a numerical aspect of the Thing, either specifying

quantity or order in a series.There are two main types of Numerative:

• Quantitative:

• indicates exactly how many of the Thing are being referred to, e.g. one, two,

three or an inexact quantity or how much of the Thing, e.g. many, lots of

• Ordinative:

• indicates where the Thing is positioned in a series, e.g. first, second, third.
three reasons the second reason
Numerative: Thing Pointer Numerative: Thing
quantitative ordinative
• Like Pointers, Numeratives may be either definite or indefinite.
Some of the most common Numeratives are shown in the table
below.
Definite Indefinite
Quantitative one, two, three, several, many, a few

a couple, a quarter little, much, a lot of

fewer, less, more
Ordinative first, second preceding
next, last, finally subsequent

For example:
• After the fifth century, however, few writers, except writers on scientific subjects, had any belief in the idea
of progress in the future.
 Classifier
• Classifiers answer the question “what type of thing is it?” or “what group
does the thing belong to?”. They can be either nouns or adjectives.

• Noun Classifiers:
• Mayer suggests that teenagers make long telephone calls. Classification systems
are made up by biologists.
• Adjective Classifiers:
• In some disciplines, such as social sciences, female postgraduates equal or
even outnumber their male colleagues.
• Like Describers, there may be more than one Classifier in the noun
group, e.g.

• Their spores were first observed on stream surface scum by Ingold (1942).

• This example has two noun classifiers, in the end, both classifying the
Thing, scum. Using two classifiers in this way makes the noun group very
condensed (and possibly more technical). If we expand the noun group in
a less condensed way it would become: the scum that can be found on the
surface of a stream.
Facet, Measure, Type
• The final pre-‐modifying components in the noun group are the Facet, Measure or
Type. These elements are very common in noun groups in academic writing and can
specify a particular aspect, type or measure of the Thing:

• the side of, the top of (Facet)

• a number of (Measure)

• an example of, a type of (Type)

• If we look at the structure of any cell, we can see a nucleus.

Each type of organism has a particular cluster of chromosomes in each of its nuclei.
• A noun group which contains a Facet, Measure or Type element has a
more complex structure than the noun groups we have looked at so
far. This structure is shown below.

the structure of any cell

Pre-­‐modifiers Head
Facet Pointer Thing
Pre-­‐modifier Head
Pointer Thing
• Because the Facet word is itself a Head, it can be modified, e.g.

• If we look at the internal structure of any cell, we can see a nucleus. Each
different type of leaf has particular layers of cells.
• Typical problem with Facets

• The head of the noun group, i.e. the Thing not the Facet, must agree with
the verb

• Two types of risk factor has been found for the disease. ×

Corrected version:
Two types of risk factor have been found for the disease.
• Grammatical metaphor processes such as nominalisation
therefore, allow us to change a word from one word class, e.g.
a verb or adjective, into another, e.g. a noun. This can be done
by adding suffixes, using the processes of derivational
morphology (see Basic English Grammar Module, Unit 1). For
instance:
verb noun
evolve evolution
reproduce reproduction

adjective noun
successful success
insane insanity
• The process works the other way as well: nouns can be turned into
other word classes,
• e.g. adjectives.

noun adjective
friend friendly
• The following table shows the most common morphemes used for
deriving nouns:
•

Morpheme verb noun

-­‐ant inhabit inhabitant
-­‐(a)tion explore exploration
evolve evolution
concentrate concentration
-­‐al refuse refusal
-­‐age drain drainage
• (Adapted from Quirk and Greenbaum, 1973:pp. 436-‐441)
adjective noun
-­‐ness kind kindness
-­‐ity fatal fatality
-­‐dom free freedom
-­‐ence different difference

• Concrete nouns can also be turned into more abstract nouns:

concrete noun abstract noun

-­‐ness friend friendliness
-­‐hood parent parenthood
-­‐ship friend friendship
-­‐ery slave slavery
-­‐ism Confucius Confucianism