Complex Noun Phrases: Authentic Text Examples

Most academic or journalistic texts are quite dense with complex noun phrases. The reason for this is that they can present a lot of information in a few words. The examples shown in previous pages were chosen from real texts but each one was chosen to exemplify one particular aspect of noun phrase modification. The following examples are also from real texts, but they have been chosen to show how various types of noun modification are commonly used in such texts. Each example demonstrates more than one type of modification (both premodification and postmodification).

Each example highlights various aspects of noun phrase modification along with an explanation. Click in each textbox to start and to cycle through each animation.

Example 1

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause

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Example 2

Premodification: noun, adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause

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Example 3

Premodification: adjective, compound noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause, appositive noun phrase, to-clause

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Example 4

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase

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Example 5

Postmodification: relative clause

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Example 6

Postmodification: relative clause

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Example 7

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause, appositive noun phrase,

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Example 8

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause, appositive noun phrase, noun complement clause

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Example 9

Premodification: noun, adjective
Postmodification: ing-clause, relative clause, prepositional phrase

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Example 10

Premodification: ed-participle, adjective, ing-participle, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause

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Example 11

Premodification: ed-participle, adjective, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, relative clause

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Example 12

Premodification: ed-participle, adjective, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause

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Example 13

Premodification: ed-participle, adjective, ing-participle, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause

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Example 14

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, appositive noun phrase

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Example 15

Postmodification: prepositional phrase, relative clause, appositive noun phrase

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Example 16

Premodification: adjective, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause

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Example 17

Premodification: noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, to-clause

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Example 18

Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause

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Example 19

Premodification: adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause, ed-clause

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Example 20

Premodification: adjective, noun
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause, ing-clause

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Example 21

Premodification: noun, adjective
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, appositive noun phrase

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Example 22

Premodification: noun, adjective
Postmodification: relative clause, prepositional phrase

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Example 23

Premodification: adjective, noun ing-participle
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ed-clause

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Example 24

Premodification: determiner
Postmodification: prepositional phrase, ing-clause

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