noun phrase
noun
often capitalized N&P
: a phrase formed by a noun and all its modifiers and determiners
broadly
: any syntactic element (such as a clause, clitic, pronoun, or zero element) with a noun's function (such as the subject of a verb or the object of a verb or preposition)
—abbreviation NP
Examples of noun phrase in a Sentence
In the sentence “I found the owner of the dog,” “the owner of the dog” is a noun phrase.
Recent Examples on the Web
The first phrase is an appositive—typically a noun or noun phrase that modifies another noun or noun phrase, which appears next to it in the sentence.
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David Owen, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2023
On top of that sequence, there's a structure, a syntactic tree that includes noun phrases and verb phrases.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Oct. 2021
Meanwhile, a two-year-old child tested alongside Kanzi quickly intuits that two nouns can make up a noun phrase, tucked as a direct object into a verb phrase, which in turn is part of a sentence.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
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David Owen, The New Yorker, 12 Jan. 2023
On top of that sequence, there's a structure, a syntactic tree that includes noun phrases and verb phrases.
—IEEE Spectrum, 14 Oct. 2021
Meanwhile, a two-year-old child tested alongside Kanzi quickly intuits that two nouns can make up a noun phrase, tucked as a direct object into a verb phrase, which in turn is part of a sentence.
—The Economist, 22 Aug. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Noun phrase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/noun%20phrase. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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