this house support reaction to stop Global warming for better future (clearly, we all HUMANBEING!)

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dailyemo.days

Saturday, February 27, 2010

PREPOSITION IN, ON, AND AT




The prepositions
in, on, and at can be used to indicate time and place. Notice how they are used in the following situations:
PrepositionTimePlace
InYear, Month,
In 1999, In December
Country, State, City
In Japan, In Utah, In Taipei
OnDay, Date
On Saturday, On May 1
Street
On Main Street, On 1st Ave.
AtTime
At 8:00, At 7:30
Address
At 815 East Main Street
In many languages, there is only one preposition for the above situations. In English there are three. Just remember that in usually indicates the "largest" time or place, and at usually indicates the "smallest" time or place.

Examples:


    A: Where's your office?

    B: In Jakarta, Indonesia.

    A: Really? What part of jakarta?

    B: It's on Pegangsaan Timur Road.

    A: I know that area. Where exactly is it?

    B: It's at Pegangsaan Timur Road no.12 , next to the bookstore.


    C: When is the wedding?

    D: It's in June.

    C: What day?

    D: It's on Saturday, the 25th.

    C: What time?

    D: It starts at 6:00.

Prepositions with articles and locations



When talking about locations, use at to indicate the general vicinity or area, and in to
indicate inside the building, enclosed area, etc. For example:

    at the swimming pool (on site)

    in the swimming pool (in the
    pool itself i.e. in the water)

    at the post office/bank (general)

    in the post office/bank (inside the building)

    at the zoo (visitors, general area)

    in the zoo (animals in their cages)

    at school

    in the classroom


Sample sentences:
    I met my wife at the theater. (while watching a movie)

    I spilled my drink in the theater (on the floor of the building)

    She works at the library on Wednesdays.

    She found a rare coin in the library (building).

    Dr. Jones works at the hospital every day.

    John was in the hospital for a week with a broken leg.

For school, prison, and church, the is used to indicate the building. No article indicates
the general situation. Note the following:

    "practice"/situation

    building

    in school (studying, listening to teacher, etc.)

    in the school (building)

    in jail/prison (staying there as a criminal)

    in the jail/prison (temporary)

    in church (praying, listening to a sermon, etc.)

    in the church (building)

Where's Dad?

in church (attending services)

in the church (fixing the windows)

at church

at the church

in prison (He committed a crime.)

at the prison (visiting his friend)

VOCABULARY AROUND THE HOUSE




I said :
"vocabulary around the house is.. an situation when we use english for everday in our hole life and we spelled the grammar well. Begin in our daily life at home e.g. with our parents,friends,bro,sister,grandpa,grandma,or maybe with your teachers? then, your neighboor,your lab partner,etc. I don't know how to explain it well, but i would share to you about something I know or just give you an idea for the bassicly english. make your head stay cool. :) :lol: "
Vocabulary around the house
this is the example of vocabulary I've been used (maybe,since I was 5th y.o.) :

Dialogue with my friends

Here is a conversation between me (Tasya) and my twin brother, Kira.
It's Saturday and I and Kira are decorating.
Tasya
bay, you missed a bit. (*bay is Babay,my little name)
Kira
Where?
Tasya
Here, on the wall just by the window, you can see a patch of white.
Kira Oh yes, I see it. It's difficult in this light.
Tasya I know, well at least we have finished this room, only five more to go.
Kira Are you sure you want to put wallpaper up in the lounge?
Tasya Yes, but don't worry, I'm really good at wallpapering. I just wish that Nuel would decide on what he wants his room doing in.
Kira
I know, it's difficult when you're a boy. At least he's grown out of Star Wars, I keep thinking he'll ask for red and black or something equally gruesome.
Tasya
Yes, but it is his room. I'm glad we decided not to move though. Maybe we should think about building an extension to the kitchen instead.
Kira
One thing at a time please! Lets get this decorating over and done with first.
Tasya
Ha! Oh by the way you missed a bit by the door too!
Kira Hmmm, thanks. Here's a brush.








PASSIVE VOICE

The Myths So what is the passive voice? First, let's be clear on what the passive voice isn't. Below, we'll list some common myths about the passive voice:

1. Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error. Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It's a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.

2. Any use of "to be" (in any form) constitutes the passive voice. The passive voice entails more than just using a being verb. Using "to be" can weaken the impact of your writing, but it is occasionally necessary and does not by itself constitute the passive voice.

3. The passive voice always avoids the first person; if something is in first person ("I" or "we") it's also in the active voice.
On the contrary, you can very easily use the passive voice in the first person. Here's an example: "I was hit by the dodgeball."

4. You should never use the passive voice. While the passive voice can weaken the clarity of your writing, there are times when the passive voice is OK and even preferable.

5. I can rely on my grammar checker to catch the passive voice.


See Myth #
1. Since the passive voice isn't a grammar error, it's not always caught.

Typically, grammar checkers catch only a fraction of passive voice usage.
Do any of these misunderstandings sound familiar? If so, you're not alone. That's why we wrote this handout. It discusses how to recognize the passive voice, when you should avoid it, and when it's OK. top Defining the passive voice A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke: Why was the road crossed by the chicken? Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject.
The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object).
We use active verbs to represent that "doing," whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly).
Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. Look for a form of "to be" (is, are, am , was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being) followed by a past participle.


(The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in "-ed." Some exceptions to the "-ed" rule are words like "paid" (not "payed") and "driven." (not "drived").

Here's a sure-fire formula for identifying the passive voice: form of "to be" + past participle = passive voice

For example:
" The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. "

NOTE: forms of the word "have" can do several different things in English. For example, in the sentence "John has to study all afternoon," "had" is not part of a past-tense verb.
  • It's a modal verb, like "must," "can," or "may"—these verbs tell how necessary it is to do something (compare "I have to study" versus "I may study"). And forms of "be" are not always passive, either—"be" can be the main verb of a sentence that describes a state of being, rather than an action.
  • For example, the sentence "John is a good student" is not passive; "is" is simply describing John's state of being. The moral of the story: don't assume that any time you see a form of "have" and a form of "to be" together, you are looking at a passive sentence. "I have to be on time for the concert," for example, is not passive.

  • Ask yourself whether there is an action going on in the sentence and, if so, whether whoever or whatever is doing that action is the subject of the sentence. In a passive sentence, the object of the action (e.g., the road) will be in the subject position at the front of the sentence.
  • There will be a form of be and a past participle. If the subject appears at all, it will usually be at the end of the sentence, often in a phrase that starts with "by" (e.g., "by the chicken"). Let's briefly look at how to change passive constructions into active ones.

  • You can usually just switch the word order, making the actor and subject one by putting the actor up front: The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon's fiery breath. becomes The dragon scorched the metropolis with his fiery breath. When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. becomes After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. To repeat, the key to identifying the passive voice is to look for both a form of "to be" and a past participle, which usually, but not always, ends in "-ed." top Clarity and meaning The primary reason why your instructors frown on the passive voice is that they often have to guess what you mean.
  • Sometimes, the confusion is minor. Let's look again at that sentence from a student's paper on Homer's The Odyssey: When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage. Like many passive constructions, this sentence lacks explicit reference to the actor—it doesn't tell the reader who or what invaded Penelope's house. The active voice clarifies things: After suitors invaded Penelope's house, she had to think of ways to fend them off. Thus many instructors—the readers making sense of your writing—prefer that you use the active voice. They want you to specify who or what is doing the action. Compare the following two examples from an anthropology paper on a Laotian village to see if you agree. (passive) A new system of drug control laws was set up. (By whom?) (active) The Lao People's Revolutionary Party set up a new system of drug control laws. Here's another example, from the same paper, that illustrates the lack of precision that can accompany the passive voice: Gender training was conducted in six villages, thus affecting social relationships. And a few pages later: Plus, marketing links were being established. In both paragraphs, the writer never specifies the actors for those two actions (Who did the gender training? Who established marketing links?).
  • Thus the reader has trouble appreciating the dynamics of these social interactions, which depend upon the actors conducting and establishing these things. The following example, once again from that paper on The Odyssey, typifies another instance where an instructor might desire more precision and clarity:Although Penelope shares heroic characteristics with her husband, Odysseus, she is not considered a hero. Who does not consider Penelope a hero?

  • ----It's difficult to tell, but the rest of that paragraph suggests that the student does not consider Penelope a hero (the topic of the paper). The reader might also conceivably think that the student is referring to critics, scholars, or modern readers of The Odyssey.
One might argue that the meaning comes through here—the problem is merely stylistic.

Yet style affects how your reader understands your argument and content. Awkward or unclear style prevents your reader from appreciating the ideas that are so clear to you when you write. Thus knowing how your reader might react enables you to make more effective choices when you revise. So after you identify instances of the passive, you should consider whether your use of the passive inhibits clear understanding of what you mean.
top Summarizing history or literary plots with the passive voice: don't be a lazy thinker or writer! With the previous section in mind, you should also know that some instructors proclaim that the passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking. These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments. Consider these sentences from papers on American history: The working class was marginalized. African Americans were discriminated against. Women were not treated as equals. Such sentences lack the precision and connection to context and causes that mark rigorous thinking. The reader learns little about the systems, conditions, human decisions, and contradictions that produced these groups' experiences of oppression. And so the reader—the instructor—questions the writer's understanding of these things. It is especially important to be sure that your thesis statement is clear and precise, so think twice before using the passive voice in your thesis. In papers where you discuss the work of an author—e.g., a historian or writer of literature—you can also strengthen your writing by not relying on the passive as a crutch when summarizing plots or arguments. Instead of writing It is argued that… or Tom and Huck are portrayed as… or And then the link between X and Y is made, showing that… you can heighten the level of your analysis by explicitly connecting an author with these statements: Anderson argues that…Twain portrays Tom and Huck as… Ishiguro draws a link between X and Y to show that… By avoiding passive constructions in these situations, you can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material you discuss. You show that you're not a lazy, sloppy thinker. topScientific writing All this advice works for papers in the humanities, you might note—but what about technical or scientific papers, including lab reports? Many instructors recommend or even require the passive voice in such writing. The rationale for using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it achieves "an objective tone"—for example, by avoiding the first person. To consider scientific writing, let's break it up into two main types: lab reports and writing about a scientific topic or literature. Lab reports Although more and more scientific journals accept or even prefer first-person active voice (e.g., "then we sequenced the human genome"), some of your instructors may want you to remove yourself from your lab report by using the passive voice (e.g., "then the human genome was sequenced" rather than "then we sequenced the human genome"). Such advice particularly applies to the section on Materials and Methods, where a procedure "is followed." (For a fuller discussion on writing lab reports, see our handout on writing lab reports.) While you might employ the passive voice to retain objectivity, you can still use active constructions in some instances and retain your objective stance. Thus it's useful to keep in mind the sort of active verbs you might use in lab reports.Examples include: support, indicate, suggest, correspond, challenge, yield, show. Thus instead of writing A number of things are indicated by these results. you could write These results indicate a number of things. or Further analysis showed/suggested/yielded… Ultimately, you should find out your instructor's preference regarding your use of the passive in lab reports.Writing about scientific topics In some assignments, rather than reporting the results of your own scientific work, you will be writing about the work of other scientists. Such assignments might include literature reviews and research reports on scientific topics. You have two main possible tasks in these assignments: reporting what other people have done (their research or experiments) or indicating general scientific knowledge (the body of knowledge coming out of others' research). Often the two go together. In both instances, you can easily use active constructions even though you might be tempted by the passive—especially if you're used to writing your own lab reports in the passive. You decide: Which of these two examples is clearer? Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States. (passive)or Research points to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States.(active)Alternatively, you could write this sentence with human actors: Researchers have concluded that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The last two sentences illustrate a relationship that the first one lacks. The first example does not tell who or what leads us to accept this conclusion about heart disease. Here's one last example from a report that describes angioplasty. Which sounds better to you? The balloon is positioned in an area of blockage and is inflated. or The surgeon positions the balloon in an area of blockage and inflates it. You can improve your scientific writing by relying less on the passive. The advice we've given for papers on history or literature equally applies to papers in more "scientific" courses. No matter what field you're writing in, when you use the passive voice, you risk conveying to your reader a sense of uncertainty and imprecision regarding your writing and thinking. The key is to know when your instructor wants you to use the passive voice. For a more general discussion of writing in the sciences, see our handout. top "Swindles and perversions" Before we discuss a few instances when the passive might be preferable, we should mention one of the more political uses of the passive: to hide blame or obscure responsibility. You wouldn't do this, but you can learn how to become a critic of those who exhibit what George Orwell included among the "swindles and perversions" of writing. For example: Mistakes were made. The Exxon Company accepts that a few gallons might have been spilled. By becoming critically aware of how others use language to shape clarity and meaning, you can learn how better to revise your own work. Keep Orwell's swindles and perversions in mind as you read other writers. Because it's easy to leave the actor out of passive sentences, some people use the passive voice to avoid mentioning who is responsible for certain actions. top





So when is it OK to use the passive?


Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. Here are a few instances when the passive voice is quite useful:


1. To emphasize an object.Take a look at this example:
100 votes are required to pass the bill. This passive sentence emphasizes the number of votes required. An active version of the sentence ("The bill requires 100 votes to pass") would put the emphasis on the bill, which may be less dramatic.

2. To de-emphasize an unknown subject/actor. Consider this example:
Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river. If you don't know who the actor is—in this case, if you don't actually know who dumped all of those contaminants in the river—then you may need to write in the passive. But remember, if you do know the actor, and if the clarity and meaning of your writing would benefit from indicating him/her/it/them, then use an active construction. Yet consider the third case.

3. If your readers don't need to know who's responsible for the action.
Here's where your choice can be difficult; some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader's position to anticipate how he/she will react to the way you have phrased your thoughts.

Here are two examples:


Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.(passive)

and
Dr. Susan Jones delivered baby Sophia at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.(active)

The first sentence might be more appropriate in a birth announcement sent to family and friends—they are not likely to know Dr. Jones and are much more interested in the "object"(the baby) than in the actor (the doctor).
A hospital report of yesterday's events might be more likely to focus on Dr. Jones' role.

Use of PassivePassive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen.
I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).





Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence

• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)

• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence


As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built. Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men. Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men. The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.


source:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/passivevoice.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/passive

ASKING IF SOMEONE REMEMBERS OR NOT



Formal expressions:
Ø I wonder if you remember.....
Ø You remember...., don’t you?
Ø You haven’t forgotten...., have you?
Ø Don’t you remember.....?
Ø Do you happen to remember it now?
Ways to respond:
Ø Let me think, yes, I remember.
Ø I remember especially the scenery.
Ø I’ll never forget that
Ø I’ll always remember.
Ø I can remember it clearly.
Informal expressions:
Ø Remember the old house we used to live in?
Ø Remember that?
Ø I’m sorry I don’t remember
Ways to respond:
Ø Hold on. Yes, got it!
Ø I know.....
Ø It’s coming back to me now.
Respond if you forget:
Ø Sorry, I’ve completely forgotten.
Ø I’m affraid I forget.
Ø I really can’t remember.
Ø I’m afraid I have no memory of him
Ø Errr, let me think. No, it’s gone.
Ø Sorry, it slipped off my mind.
Example..
It was Sunday morning, wati got dressed and had breakfast quickly. She was ready to leave for school. Her mother was a little puzzled.
Mother : Hey...hey.... are you going to school?
Wati : Yes, Mom. I overslept. I’m in a hurry
Mother : You remember Sunday, don’t you?
Wati : Oh, my goodnes. I thought it’s a school day !

offering

09-05-31 Pictures, Images and Photos

The expression of “ Would you like….”is normally used for offering something to someone. The offering action can be offer some help,something, but not offering SOMEONE , OKAY guys, hehe :D

OFFERING HELP

offering help is the situation when we see someone being in trouble and it's well to us begin to offer someone a help to do something for release someone from his/her problem.

how about offering something?

it's not big different with offering help, is same well.. offering something is an action when the situation there's was someone who looked very messy with her/his situation and you ask her/his what the problem that may you can help with ask "is there anything I can do for you?"

offering something to someone can build or re-build our relationship with other people.


OFFERING HELP

EXAMPLE

Lenka : "OMG, i've got terrible headache for a couple day.. and the homeworks still goes on. I felt dizzy when saw that mess."

me (kira) : "Is there anything I can do for ya,Jeung Dollie?"

Lenka: "nice! if you don't mind to help me finish my homework.. hehehe"

me : "no. I really don't mind. let's have some fun through this."

Lenka :"Terrific! okay, sunday afternoon your place. bye!"

me : "see ya, Jeung Dollie!"


notes: Jeung Dollie is Lenka nickname. I usually call her like that (just some fun!)


Ways to say it

* Would you like a cup of tea, Fivi?

* Should I get you a bottle of water?

* Could I offer you a glass of milk, Mr. john?

* Would you care some salad?

Ofering to friends:

* Want some?

* Have some?

* Chocolate?

* Grab some for yourself

Less formal expressions:

* Would you like to have a pancake?

* Why don’t you have some lemonade?

* What can I get for you?

* What will you have?Declining an offering

* No, thanks

.* No, really won’t, thanks

* Not for me, thanks.

Accepting an offering:

* Thank you.

* Yes, please

* I’d like it very much

* That would be very nice


this topics is handmade by myself not by copying others blog.

source are relevant :

google.com

simple future


In grammar, the future tense (abbreviated fut) is a verb form that marks the event described by the verb as not having happened yet, but expected to happen in the future (in an absolute tense system), or to happen subsequent to some other event, whether that is past, present, or future (in a relative tense system).
source : wikipedia
keyword:future tense



SIMPLE FUTURE

Simple Future has two different forms in English: "will" and "be going to." Although the two forms can sometimes be used interchangeably, they often express two very different meanings. These different meanings might seem too abstract at first, but with time and practice, the differences will become clear. Both "will" and "be going to" refer to a specific time in the future.

FORM Will

[will + verb]

Examples:

  • You will help him later.
  • Will you help him later?
  • You will not help him later.

FORM Be Going To

[am/is/are + going to + verb]

Examples:

  • You are going to meet Jane tonight.
  • Are you going to meet Jane tonight?
  • You are not going to meet Jane tonight.

FUTURE CONTINOUS
Future Continuous has two different forms: "will be doing " and "be going to be doing." Unlike Simple Future forms, Future Continuous forms are usually interchangeable.

FORM Future Continuous with "Will"

[will be + present participle]

Examples:

  • You will be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
  • Will you be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
  • You will not be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

FORM Future Continuous with "Be Going To "

[am/is/are + going to be + present participle]

Examples:

  • You are going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.
  • Are you going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight?
  • You are not going to be waiting for her when her plane arrives tonight.

REMEMBER: It is possible to use either "will" or "be going to" to create the Future Continuous with little difference in meaning.


Future Perfect

Future Perfect has two different forms: "will have done" and "be going to have done." Unlike Simple Future forms, Future Perfect forms are usually interchangeable.

FORM Future Perfect with "Will"

[will have + past participle]

Examples:

  • You will have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
  • Will you have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
  • You will not have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

FORM Future Perfect with "Be Going To"

[am/is/are + going to have + past participle]

Examples:

  • You are going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.
  • Are you going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.?
  • You are not going to have perfected your English by the time you come back from the U.S.

NOTE: It is possible to use either "will" or "be going to" to create the Future Perfect with little or no difference in meaning.


Future Perfect Continuous


Future Perfect Continuous has two different forms: "will have been doing " and "be going to have been doing." Unlike Simple Future forms, Future Perfect Continuous forms are usually interchangeable.

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Will"

[will have been + present participle]

Examples:

  • You will have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
  • Will you have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
  • You will not have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

FORM Future Perfect Continuous with "Be Going To"

[am/is/are + going to have been + present participle]

Examples:

  • You are going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.
  • Are you going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives?
  • You are not going to have been waiting for more than two hours when her plane finally arrives.

NOTE: It is possible to use either "will" or "be going to" to create the Future Perfect Continuous with little or no difference in meaning.


source are relevant:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/futureperfectcontinuous.html



noun phrases



NOUN PHRASES

In grammar, a noun phrase (abbreviated NP) is a phrase whose head is a noun or a pronoun, optionally accompanied by a set of modifiers.

Noun phrases normally consist of a head noun, which is optionally modified ("premodified" If the modifier is placed before the noun; "postmodified" if the modifier is placed after 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 placed before the noun and usually either as nouns (the university student) or adjectives (the beautiful lady), or post-modifiers if placed after the noun. A postmodifier may be either a prepositional phrase (the man with long hair) or a relative clause (the house where 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 just give additional information about the noun.

Noun phrases can make use of an apposition structure. This means that the elements in the noun phrase are not in a head-modifier relationship, but in a relation of equality. An example of this is I, Caesar, declare ..., where "Caesar" and "I" do not modify each other.

The head of a noun phrase can be implied, as in "The Bold and the Beautiful" or Robin Hood's "rob from the rich and give to the poor"; an implied noun phrase is most commonly used as a generic plural referring to human beings. Another example of noun phrase with implied head is I choose the cheaper of the two.

That noun phrases can be headed by elements other than nouns—for instance, pronouns (They came) or determiners (I'll take these)—has given rise to the postulation of a determiner phrase instead of a noun phrase. The English language is not as permissive as some other languages, with regard to possible heads of noun phrases. German, for instance, allows adjectives as heads of noun phrases, as in Gib mir die Alten for Give me the olds (i.e. old ones).

source : wikipedia


how about my opinion? what its noun phrase? logically, noun phrases have many variety of words. take your head stay cool, and let i give you an suggestion. hehe :)

"THIS topics IS EASY, not difficult to learn but it will be complicated if you do not take your soda and some friedfries (then you can offer me and we stay enjoy working and searching together)."

I THINK.....

noun phrases is

A word group that includes a noun and its modifiers. The noun can be preceded by determiners (such as the, a, her) and followed by complements. Often abbreviated as NP.

Examples and Observations:

  • "The only white people who came to our house were welfare workers and bill collectors."
    (James Baldwin, Notes of a Native Son, 1955)


  • "McSorley's bar is short, accommodating approximately ten elbows, and is shored up with iron pipes."
    (Joseph Mitchell, "The Old House at Home," 1940)


  • "The wells and water table had been polluted by chemical pesticides and fertilizers that leached into the earth and were washed by rain into the creeks, where the stunned fish were scavenged by the ospreys."
    (Peter Matthiessen, Men's Lives, 1986)


  • A Georgia woman was jailed briefly after a run-in with courthouse security over her refusal to remove a religious head scarf.


  • "The men in the class--there were a few older students, veterans--listened with good-natured interest, and the girls gazed at the instructor with rosy-faced, shy affection."
    (Bernard Malamud, A New Life, 1961)


  • "Some of the owners of Harlem clubs, delighted at the flood of white patronage, made the grievous error of barring their own race, after the manner of the famous Cotton Club."
    (Langston Hughes, The Big Sea, 1940)


THEORY BASED BY REFERENCE, INTERNET,BOOKS,ETC.

The discussion of the choice of language noted that a single concept is often signaled by a variety of words, each word possessing slightly different connotations. We can indicate that people are less than content by saying they are angry , irate , incensed , perturbed , upset , furious , or mad. The broader our vocabulary, the greater our options and the more precisely we can convey our meaning.

And yet no matter how wide our vocabulary may be, a single word is often insufficient. A single word, by itself, can appear somewhat vague, no matter how specific that word might seem. The term “dog” may be specific compared to “mammal,” but it is general compared to “collie.” And “collie” is general compared to “Lassie.” Then again, many different dogs played Lassie!

Suppose you want to indicate a female person across the room. If you don’t know her name, what do you say?

That girl.

If there were more than one, this alone would be too general. It lacks specificity.

The girl in the blue Hawaiian shirt…

The taller of the two cheerleaders by the water cooler…

When a single term will not supply the reference we need, we add terms to focus or limit a more general term. Instead of referring to drugs in a discussion, we might refer to hallucinogenic drugs. We might distinguish between hard drugs and prescription drugs . In so doing we modify the notion of a drug to describe the specific one, or ones, we have in mind. (Then again, at times we are forced to use many words when we cannot recall the one that will really do, as when we refer to that funny device doctors pump up on your arm to measure blood pressure instead of a sphygmomanometer ).

This section examines how we construct full and specific references using noun phrases. An ability to recognize complete noun phrases is essential to reading ideas rather than words. A knowledge of the various possibilities for constructing extended noun pharses is essential for crafting precise and specific references.

Nouns

To begin our discussion, we must first establish the notion of a noun.

English teachers commonly identify nouns by their content. They describe nouns as words that "identify people, places, or things," as well as feelings or ideas—words like salesman , farm , balcony , bicycle , and trust. If you can usually put the word a or the before a word, it’s a noun. If you can make the word plural or singular, it's a noun. But don't worry...all that is needed at the moment is a sense of what a noun might be.

Noun Pre-Modifiers

What if a single noun isn't specific enough for our purposes? How then do we modify a noun to construct a more specific reference?

English places modifiers before a noun. Here we indicate the noun that is at the center of a noun phrase by an asterisk (*) and modifiers by arrows pointed toward the noun they modify.

white house

*

large man

*

Modification is a somewhat technical term in linguistics. It does not mean to change something, as when we "modify" a car or dress. To modify means to limit, restrict, characterize, or otherwise focus meaning. We use this meaning throughout the discussion here.

Modifiers before the noun are called pre-modifiers. All of the pre-modifiers that are present and the noun together form a noun phrase .

NOUN PHRASE

pre-modifiers noun

*

By contrast, languages such as Spanish and French place modifiers after the noun

casa blanca white house

*

homme grand big man

*

The most common pre-modifiers are adjectives, such as red , long , hot . Other types of words often play this same role. Not only articles

the water

*

but also verbs

running water

*

and possessive pronouns

her thoughts

*

Premodifiers limit the reference in a wide variety of ways.

Order: second, last

Location: kitchen, westerly

Source or Origin: Canadian

Color: red, dark

Smell: acrid, scented

Material: metal, oak

Size: large, 5-inch

Weight: heavy

Luster: shiny, dull

A number of pre-modifiers must appear first if they appear at all.

Specification: a, the, every

Designation: this, that, those, these

Ownership/Possessive: my, your, its, their, Mary’s

Number: one, many

These words typically signal the beginning of a noun phrase.

Some noun phrases are short:

the table

® *

Some are long:

the second shiny red Swedish touring sedan

*

a large smelly red Irish setter

*

my carved green Venetian glass salad bowl

*

the three old Democratic legislators

*

Notice that each construction would function as a single unit within a sentence. (We offer a test for this below,)

The noun phrase is the most common unit in English sentences. That prevalence can be seen in the following excerpt from an example from the section on the choice of language:

The stock market’s summer swoon turned into a dramatic rout
Monday as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged.

The stock market’s summer swoon turned into a dramatic rout * *

Monday as the Dow Jones industrial average plunged.
* *

To appreciate the rich possibilities of pre-modifiers, you have only to see how much you can expand a premodifier in a noun phrase:

the book
the history book
the American history book
the illustrated American history book
the recent illustrated American history book
the recent controversial illustrated American history book
the recent controversial illustrated leather bound American history book

Noun Post-Modifiers

We were all taught about pre -modifiers: adjectives appearing before a noun in school. Teachers rarely speak as much about adding words after the initial reference. Just as we find pre -modifiers, we also find post -modifiers—modifiers coming after a noun.

The most common post-modifier is prepositional phrases:

the book on the table

*

civil conflict in Africa

*

the Senate of the United States

*

Post-modifiers can be short

a dream deferred

*

or long, as in Martin Luther King Jr.’s reference to

a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves

*

and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together


at a table of brotherhood.

What does King have? A dream? No. He has a specific dream. Once we are sensitive to the existence of noun phrases, we recognize a relatively simple structure to the sentence. Here we recognize a noun phrase with a very long post-modifier—thirty-two words to be exact.

We do not get lost in the flow of words, but recognize structure. At the point that we recognize structure within the sentence, we recognize meaning. (Notice also that post-modifiers often include clauses which themselves include complete sentences, as in the last example above.)

Post-modifiers commonly answer the traditional news reporting questions of who , what , where , when , how , or why . Noun post-modifiers commonly take the following forms:

prepositional phrase the dog in the store

*

_ing phrase the girl running to the store

*

_ed past tense the man wanted by the police

*

wh - clauses the house where I was born

*

that/which clauses the thought that I had yesterday

*

If you see a preposition, wh - word ( which, who, when where ), -ing verb form, or that or which after a noun, you can suspect a post-modifier and the completion of a noun phrase.

The noun together with all pre- and post-modifiers constitutes a single unit, a noun phrase that indicates the complete reference. Any agreement in terms of singular/plural is with the noun at the center.

The boys on top of the house are .............

*

Here the noun at the center of the noun phrase is plural, so a plural form of the verb is called for (not a singular form to agree with the singular house) .

The Pronoun Test

In school, we were taught that pronouns replaced nouns . Not so. Pronouns replace complete noun phrases . Pronoun replacement thus offers a test of a complete noun phrase. Consider:

The boy ate the apple in the pie.

What did he eat?

The boy ate the apple in the pie.

*

Want proof? Introduce the pronoun “it” into the sentence. If a pronoun truly replaces a noun, we’d get

*The boy ate the it in the pie.

No native speaker would say that! They’d say

The boy ate it.

The pronoun replaces the complete noun phrase, the apple in the pie .

This pronoun substitution test can be particualrly useful. Not all prepositional phrases after a noun are necessarily part of the noun phrase – they could be later predicate or sentence modifiers. In other words, we must not only identify noun phrases, we must parse out other material, and in that act recognize broader aspects of sentence structure.

The web page on distinguishing sentence and predicate modifiers (www.criticalreading.com/sentence_predicate_modifiers.htm) discusses the three sentences:

  1. 1. The boy ate the apple in the pie.
  2. 2. The boy ate the apple in the summer.
  3. 3. The boy ate the apple in a hurry.
Only the first includes a noun phrase longer than two words: the apple in the pie.