Hello, everyone.
Today, you will be learning about a writing technique to help you master one of the key
characteristics of a professional writing style.
It is called a complex noun phrase.
First, what is a complex noun phrase?
A complex noun phrase means that a head noun is modified by words that come before it.
For example, in the phrase valuable experience, the word valuable modifies the head noun experience.
Or when a head noun is modified by words or clauses that come after it.
For example, in the phrase valuable experience that I will never forget, the words that I
will never forget provide more information about how valuable the experience is.
This combination of a head noun, experience, a describing word, valuable, and a clause,
that I will never forget, makes it a complex noun phrase.
The basic structure of a complex noun phrase includes four major components.
They are a determiner, a pre-modifier, a head noun, a post-modifier.
An example of a complex noun phrase is a hardworking student.
In this phrase, the head noun is student.
The pre-modifier is the adjective hardworking, which describes the personality of the student.
In front of the head noun, we use the determiner A to refer to one unspecified student.
However, the phrase doesn't end there.
We can add more details after the head noun to describe how the student demonstrates hardwork.
For example, we can include a relative clause like who tends to review before a lesson as
a post-modifier.
After getting familiar with this structure, you're probably wondering what's in it for
us as writers.
By utilizing complex noun phrases, writers can effectively condense a significant amount
of information within a sentence, while preserving conciseness.
For instance, the paragraph on the left exemplifies the writing style of an inexperienced author,
as it emphasizes the subject and verb in each sentence.
This repetitive approach results in a lengthy paragraph comprising 37 words.
Conversely, the enhanced paragraph, with the utilization of more complex noun phrases
highlighted in different colors, is considerably shorter.
To illustrate, the original meaning of become more proficient in the language they are learning
can be succinctly conveyed as improved language proficiency.
In this phrase, both improved and language serve as pre-modifiers for the head noun proficiency.
Now, let's move on to summarizing the different types of words that we can use before a
head noun.
1. General adjectives, descriptive words like official, new, that modify a noun.
2. ED Participal, which refers to the form of a verb that ends in ED, indicating passive,
completed action.
For example, a price is discounted by the business partner.
Another example is the area is restricted by the police.
3. ING Participle.
The verb form ending in ING shows an ongoing action or state.
For example, a conflicting schedule means a schedule that is currently in a state of conflict.
4. A noun can also modify another noun to add more details.
Interestingly, although all the pre-modification types exist, according to research, nouns and
adjectives are the most common ones in an academic context.
Next, we will summarize the types of words we can place after a head noun to form a complex
noun phrase.
Post-modification involves clauses or phrases, which are distinct from pre-modification types
that consist of individual words.
In the following, example sentences will be provided to illustrate how various types of
clauses or phrases can be used.
Relative clause, the stress that students experience during exam periods can have a significant
impact on their mental health.
A phrase led by two, one of the common methods to resist impulsive buying is to make a shopping
list and stick to it.
A phrase led by the verb form ending in ING, students living in residential halls tend
to develop their friendships more easily.
A phrase led by the verb form ending in ED, many students are often overwhelmed by the
workload assigned in their courses.
Prepositional phrase, the university offers a wide range of social activities for the
purpose of helping freshmen make a smooth transition.
And among the post-modification types introduced just now, according to Corpus findings, prepositional
phrases appear in academic texts with the highest frequency.
That's everything you need to know for complex noun phrases.
Hope you enjoyed the video.