Nominal Group

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What is a Group/Phrase? 
A group is any combination of words that does not contain a finite verb and has a head. A 
headword is an obligatory or indispensable word in a group. Other words in a group hang 
on the headword. You need to know that Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, Adverbs, etc. are 
lexical words and every lexical word has a phrase or group that corresponds to it. Every 
group bears the nomenclature of the lexical word that serves as its head. 
Finite verb forms show tense, person and number (I go, she goes, we went, etc.): 
She was waiting in the room before he came in. 
Does your brother know my brother? 
The night before he had to leave, they sat on the small sofa in the living-room and looked at old 
family photos. 
Aren’t you a bit late? 
Non-finite verb forms do not show tense, person or number. Typically they are infinitive forms with 
and without to (e.g. to go, go), -ing forms and -ed forms (e.g. going, gone): 
She tiptoed round the house so as not to wake anyone. 
You need to paint the whole cupboard, starting from the bottom. 
Taken prisoner by the British in December 1776, he was held in New York City for a year … 
Source: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/finite-and-non-finite-verbs 
Types of Groups in English 
Based on the description of lexical words above, we have different types of groups in 
English. These are: 
1. Nominal Group 
2. Verbal Group 
3. Adjectival group 
4. Adverbial Group 
5. Prepositional Group 
 
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https://akademia.com.ng/nominal-group-english-definition-functions-examples/
https://akademia.com.ng/english-verbal-group-types-examples/
https://akademia.com.ng/english-adverbial-group-types-functions-examples/
https://akademia.com.ng/what-is-a-prepositional-phrase-definition-examples/
 
When you see the word ‘nominal’, it is a simple reference to the word ‘noun’! It is such a very 
important group in the English language. So the article Nominal Group in English: Definition, 
Functions and Examples provides answers to all the questions you might have as far as this 
group is concerned. 
Nominal Group: A Definition 
So what is the nominal group? The nominal group is one of the groups in English and it consists 
of a group of words with a noun or pronoun as the headword. The structure of a nominal group 
comprises the modifier (m) which is the element that appears before the headword, the 
headword (h) itself which is usually a noun and the qualifier (q) which is the element that occurs 
after the headword. Of these three constituents, both the modifier and the qualifier are 
optional elements. 
Nominal Group in English: Definition, Functions and 
Examples 
Let us begin this discourse with the types of nominal groups in English. 
 Types of the Nominal Group 
The nominal group has two distinct types. These are: 
A Noun-headed Nominal Group 
This has a noun as the headword. for example: 
• Some boys stole the ball. (m, h) 
• The cruel dictator is dead. (m, m, h) 
• My father bought a new car. (m, h) 
Adjective-headed Nominal Group 
This has an adjective as the headword. This normally comes up under the complement aspect 
but can also feature in the subject position. For instance: 
• The room is too dirty. (m, h) ‘Dirty’ is the headword, while ‘too’ is the modifier. 
• The man is very poor. (m, h) 
• His father is very poor (m, h) 
• The rich also cry. (m, h) 
• The helpless in the society have resigned to fate. 
• The delinquent squandered* his father’s resources. 
 Possible Structural Arrangement of the Nominal Group 
 There are about four (4) possible structural arrangements of the nominal group and they 
include: 
https://akademia.com.ng/groups-phrase-english-definition-types-functions/
 
*squander: fazer a limpa 
1. The unmodified head type consisting of only the headword (the h type): 
• [Students] could be mischievous. 
• [Dogs] are domestic animals. 
• [Soldiers] could be surprisingly tender. 
• [Police] are supposedly your friends. 
2. The pre-modified head type comprising the modifier (which could be up to six (6) and the 
headword (the mh type): 
• The [man] is here. (1 modifier) 
• His mother’s [purse] is missing. (2 modifiers) 
• The four noisy [students] were punished. (3 modifiers) 
• The two new bulletproof [cars] had no duty papers… (m, m, m, h) (4 modifiers) 
• The big brown American leather [bag] is rather expensive (5 modifiers) 
• Our current democracy’s insidious1 repercussive and cataclysmic2 [exigencies] are unfounded. (6 
modifiers) 
3. The post-modified head type consisting of the headword plus the qualifier (the hq type): 
• [Alexander], the great was a great king. 
• [Something] good is about to happen. 
• [She] herself is to blame. 
• [They] themselves caused the problem. 
4. The pre and post modified head type comprising the modifier, the headword and the qualifier 
(the mhq type): 
• The beautiful [girl] on the bed is my daughter. 
• The yellow [cab] in the line is new. 
• The [amount] we paid is too much. 
• The [flight] to Amsterdam was eventful. 
Note: the headwords in 1 – 4 are enclosed in square brackets. 
 The Constituents of the Modifiers 
 The following grammatical entities can occupy the position of the modifier in a nominal group. 
They include: 
• Determiners – a determiner is a word which ‘determines’ or ‘specifies’ how we should understand 
the reference of a noun phrase. E. g. some boys, any leader, many articles, much money, this table, 
each one, etc. 
• Articles e. g. the bag, a European, an eagle, etc. 
• Genitive, Deictic or the Possessive e. g. James’ pen, Sandra’s purse, children’s class, His father’s 
property, etc. 
• Adjectives e. g. beautiful girl, fat lady, slim chance, rich ones, poor masses, etc. 
• Verbal Nouns, Gerunds or Progressive forms (-ing) e. g. sleeping beauty, dancing doll, swimming 
team, etc. 
• Perfective forms – (ed/en’) e. g. frightened kid, convicted man, threatened citizens, expected 
largesse3, etc. 
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1insiduous: gradually and secretly causing harm. 
2 cataclysmic: causing a lot of destruction, or a sudden, violent change. 
3largesse: willingness to give money, or money given to poor people by rich people. 
The Constituents of the Qualifiers 
 The following grammatical entities can occupy the position of the qualifier in a nominal group. 
They include: 
• Adverbs e. g. there, here, etc. 
• Adverbial groups e. g. in the class, on the field, from the city, under the table, over the bar, near the 
corner, etc. 
• Verbal Nouns, Gerunds or Progressive forms (-ing) e. g. the man standing over there (m, h, q), the 
girl running on the field, (m, h, q) many politicians canvassing for votes, etc. 
• Perfective forms – (ed/en’) e. g. the man disturbed, (m, h, q), the girl threatened, (m, h, q), etc. 
• Clause – finite or non-finite e.g. the woman shouting for help, (non-finite clause) the woman who is 
shouting for help, (finite clause) etc. 
Syntactic Functions of Nominal Groups 
 The nominal group or noun phrase performs several syntactic functions. Let us consider some 
of these functions: 
The subject of a sentence 
Consider the following examples: 
• The cows went berserk4. 
• The man’s eldest son was elected governor. 
• Paul, the Apostle wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. 
 Direct Object 
See the following sentences: 
• The Senator stole a large amount of money. 
• The judge transferred the accused case. 
• They have found the thief. 
 Indirect Object 
Consider the following examples: 
• My mother gave the beggar her old clothes 
• The Registrar bought the clerk a new motorcycle. 
• The governor built the students a laboratory.• He bought his wife an expensive ring. 
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4beserk: very angry or out of control. 
 
 A complement of the Subject or Subject Complement 
See these illustrations: 
• He is an enterprising entrepreneur. 
• She is a kind-hearted philanthropist. 
• The president is a good leader. 
• He seems a nice fellow. 
• Fela calls himself the weird one. 
 A complement of the Object or Object Complement 
Let us demonstrate this with the following sentences: 
• Americans elected Donald Trump their President. 
• They called him a thief. 
• Maxwell classifies himself a hacker. 
• We chose John our captain. 
• The university appointed him its worthy foreign representative. 
Functions as Apposition 
Apposition has to do with the relationship between two usually consecutive nouns or noun 
phrases that refer to the same person or thing and have the same relationship to other 
sentence elements. So, a nominal group functions as apposition. Examples include: 
• Mahatma Gandhi, the most important leader for independence, appeared to his followers as the 
quintessence of the Hindu tradition. 
• Dave Johnson, my famous colleague, is quite cerebral. 
• Tequila, a powerful Mexican drink, is expensive and stronger in flavour. 
 Completive of a Prepositional Phrase 
See the following: 
• The ball went over the bar. 
• He sat on the office table. 
• He ran across the field. 
• She came into the house. 
• The frightened students ran to the principal’s office. 
 
Source: https://akademia.com.ng/nominal-group-english-definition-functions-examples/ 
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https://akademia.com.ng/apposition-definition-types-examples/