NOUN PHRASES

Noun? In Indonesian is Kata Benda. There are so many Nouns in this whole world. How much? I don't know. Ok then, just check this out :)

A noun is a word used to name a person, animal, place, thing, and abstract idea. Nouns are usually the first words which small children learn.

Noun Types:

1.   Proper nouns
2.   Agent nouns
3.   Countable and uncountable nouns
4.    Mass nouns
5.    Collective nouns
6.    Concrete nouns and abstract nouns

 Definition of Noun Phrases 

A word group with a noun or pronoun as its head. The noun head can be accompanied by modifiers, determiners (such as the, a, her), and/or complements. A noun phrase (often abbreviated as NP) most commonly functions as a subject, object, or complement.

The Component:
In English grammar, a noun phrase has three components:

 •The head, is the hub, the center of attraction (as it were) of the noun phrase; it is the noun or pronoun around which the other parts gather together. The head determines concord with the portion of the sentence outside the noun phrase. Thus: –The change in the Asian economies is unprecedented. –The changes in Japan's economy are most unexpected.

 •Pre-modification consists of all the words placed before the head. These words are usually determiners, adjectives and nouns. 

 •Postmodification comprises words in the noun phrase that follow the head. These words usually consist of prepositional phrases, nonfinite clauses, and relative clauses.

Form: 

Noun phrases normally consist of a head noun, which is optionally modified ("premodified" if the modifier appears before the noun; "postmodified" if the modifier follows the noun). Possible modifiers include:

 •determiners: articles (the, a), demonstratives (this, that), numerals (two, five, etc.), possessives (my, their, etc.), and quantifiers (some,many, etc.). In English, determiners are usually placed before the noun;

 •adjectives (the red ball); or complements, in the form of a prepositional phrase (such as: the student of physics), or a That-clause (the claim that the earth is round); 

•modifiers; pre-modifiers if before the noun and usually either as nouns (the university student) or adjectives (the beautiful lady), or post-modifiers if after the noun. A postmodifier may be either a prepositional phrase (the man with long hair) or a relative clause (the housewhere I live). The difference between modifiers and complements is that complements complete the meaning of the noun; complements are necessary, whereas modifiers are optional because they add information about the noun.

Kinds of noun phrases : 

a. Noun + Noun, example : Office boy 

b. Verb + Noun, example : Take a bath 

c. Gerund + Noun, example: Throwing ball 

d. Pronoun + Noun, example : My book 

e. Adjective + Noun, example : Black board

f. Determiner + Noun, example : A pen

Sources:
http://www.englishgrammar.org/noun-phrases/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noun_phrasehttp://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nounphraseterm.htmhttp://catatanbahasainggris.blogspot.com/2009/06/noun-phrases.htmlhttp://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/noun-phrase.html