A phrase that can serve as the subject or the object of a verb; it is usually headed by a noun, (including pronouns), with any associated dependents such as determiners or modifiers
A noun phrase (often abbreviated to NP) is a linguistic expression whose head is a common noun, a proper name, or a pronoun: a dog dogs rice beauty Shelly she Examples a - d are common noun phrases In English, only mass and abstract common nouns can function alone as noun phrases, as in examples c and d above Common count nouns must have a determiner (a ) or be in plural form (b ) in noun phrases Noun phrases can also have adjective, preposition phrase, and relative clause modifiers: Let he [who is without sin] cast the [first] stone the [big bad] wolf She married the boy [next door] a cat [on the mat] In these examples, the modifiers appear in square brackets
a complete construction headed by a noun It can be substituted by, or act as antecedent for, a pronoun of the appropriate sort: The man who I saw yesterday has just knocked at the door Can you let him in?
is a wider term than 'noun' It can refer to a single noun (money), a pronoun (it) or a group of words that functions in the same way as a noun in a sentence, for example
A phrase that functions in the same way as a noun, that is, as a subject, a direct object or an indirect object: Hitting the ball over the fence was his goal