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Noun clauses

Presentation / Objective

teacher

In this session you are going to distinguish the different words that can accompany a noun, in order to describe means of transport in the past, present and future and the people who are changing transportation in English speaking countries.




Why are noun phrases important?

Noun phrases help you describe a person, an object or a place with more detail

Objective

At the end of this topic you will:
Be able to use noun phrases with adjectives, articles, possessives and nouns to identify and describe objects, people and places in a precise manner. You will also be able to make detailed descriptions of objects, people and places by using noun phrases with adjectives, articles and nouns.

Are you ready? So, let’s start with noun phrases!

Content

Noun clauses

Oh, hi! Have you seen my car? I’m lost you see…

Man asking to the valet parking

My car is in the parking lot. Can you see it?
Let me give more information, sorry!

Car behind valet parking

My red and yellow sports car is in the parking lot.

Better, right? You see? I just used a noun phrase to describe my car. Let’s see more about noun phrases, shall we?




Observe the next infographic to know more about noun phrases:






Types of noun phrases

We can add an adjective to a noun:

• That private cab will take you where you want to go.

Taxi driver in his taxi

GraphicMama-team. (2016). Taxi controlador. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-1598104/?no_redirect


• Uber uses compact modern cars as cabs.



A grey car

Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2014). Coche gris. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-303897/?no_redirect



Electric buses will replace old diesel ones.

A white bus

Quique. 2013. Autobus blanco. Retrieved el 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-93219/?no_redirect




Remember that quantities are also adjectives

All cars must pass safety tests.
Some cabs are green and white in this city


What other adjectives do you know?

Noun phrases with articles

Remember definite and indefinite articles?
An article helps us talk specifically about an object.
There are two types of articles:

Indefinite: a / an
Definite: the


The bicycle I rented costed $5 per hour

Bycicle

AriGraf. (2016). Bicicleta. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-1455776/?no_redirect



An uber is like a taxi but cheaper



Black car as uber

Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2012). Coche. Recuperado el 10/11/16 de https://pixabay.com/p-35502/?no_redirect



And we can combine articles with adjectives to make the noun phrase longer:



The green elongated bus will take you downtown.



Green bus

Emslichter. (2012). Volvo 9300. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-1236310/?no_redirect



A nice, small and air-conditioned car will pick me up later.



Grey car

Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2014). Coche moderna. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-307867/?no_redirect

Noun phrases with possessive adjectives and nouns

We can also add a possessive adjective (my, your, his, her) to a noun phrase.



My train is coming.


OpenClipart-Vectors. (2013). Tren. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-158860/?no_redirect



Their flight will take off soon.

Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2014). Avión. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-309503/?no_redirect



Also we can add a possessive pronoun (‘s) to a noun phrase



Gary’s train is 8A


Mario’s flight is number 8130

Check these examples:

• The taxi taken by Pedro was green and black.
• Those washed cars have to be parked.
• The parking service will take care of your car.
Polluting trucks often receive tickets.

OpenClipart-Vectors. (2013). Dedo. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-157290/?no_redirect Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2014). Cubo. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-309439/?no_redirect OpenClipart-Vectors. (2013). Operador. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-148647/?no_redirect Clker-Free-Vector-Images. (2014). Camión. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-304383/?no_redirect



Taken, washed, parking and polluting are not verbs, they are participial adjectives working as descriptions, not actions.

Finally, we can add a participle(-ed or –ing adjectives) to a noun phrase

Unregistered cars will be impounded.
• An uber driven by Pedro Flores will pick me up.
• An attractive cruise taking you to the Caribbean is a good vacation.
• Airplanes carrying mail and packages arrive in another part of the airport.

Taken, washed, parking and polluting are not verbs, they are participial adjectives working as descriptions, not actions.

Excercise

Now that you now all the information, let’s practice!


Reading

Activity 1

History of transportation in the US


Look at these noun phrases:

A long waterway (Article-Adjective-Noun)

19th century railroads (Adj-Adj-Noun)

Now you are going to read about the history of transport in the US.

a) Do you know how old is the railroad system in the US?
b) What kind of transport did Americans use in the XIXth century?

Match the noun phrases in parentheses to the patterns:
A= Adjective
N=Noun
ART= Article
PA = Possessive Adjective

Drag the different options to the appropriate spaces to complete the sentences. You have one attempt to answer the exercise. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

Listening

Activity 2

Alternative methods of transportation

Nowadays the space between technology and transportation is becoming smaller.





1. Before you listen, reflect:

Do you know what a driverless car is?
Do you know which company is introducing this type of car?

2. Now, listen to an article about driverless cars and their benefits.

3. Listen once again and while doing it, drag the different options to the appropriate spaces to complete the sentences. You have two attempts to answer the exercise. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.




Finally, after you listen choose the most appropriate option for the following statements. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.


Writing

Activity 3

Means of transport in your city

Before you start writing drag the adjectives to the transport they describe.


Imagine that a local magazine asked you to write about the means of transport in your city, describing them in detail (cost, time, comfort) Write your article in 180-200 words. Remember to use noun phrases

You will be evaluated in the following aspects:

1. Spelling: Correct writing of words
2. Grammar: Correct use of noun phrases, verb tenses, prepositions, adjectives and adverbs
3. Order of ideas
4. Vocabulary: Use of vocabulary seen in this unit
5. Topic: Focusing on the topic

Check the following example


Once you finished evaluate yourself with this check list. You have to select the correspondent degree of achievement, according to your honest perception. At the end check your score with the level of achievement you got.

Speaking

Activity 4

Transportation in the future

Before you speak look at the image below

OpenClipart-Vectors. (2013). Automóviles de turismo. Retrieved 10/11/16 from https://pixabay.com/p-150155/?no_redirect


As you read before, technology and transportation are already working together, like in the example of driverless cars. How do you imagine people will travel in 30 years?

Record yourself answering this question in 3-5 minutes, remember to use noun phrases when giving descriptions.

Considere the following elements and be sure to cover them:

1. Correct pronunciation
2. Grammar: Correct use of verb tenses, adjectives, articles and adverbs
3. Order of ideas
4. Vocabulary: Use of vocabulary seen in this unit
5. Topic: Focusing on the topic

Once you finished recording your speech, listen to it again and think about:

-Did I use noun phrases?
-Was it fast/slow/hesitant?
-Did I make long/short pauses?

Check the following example.



Self-assessment

Placing noun phrases

The sentences below are incomplete, drag the different options to the appropriate spaces to complete the sentences. You have several attempts to answer the exercise. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.


Identifying noun phrases

Some of the sentences below have noun phrases others do not.

Decide if the following statements are true or false by choosing the appropriate option (True if the sentence has a noun phrase or False if the sentence does not have a noun phrase). You can know your score at the end of the exercise



Congratulations! You have come at the end of the unit on noun phrases. Remember that noun phrases are vital in helping us to add more information to people, places and things making our information more exact in speaking and also writing.

References

Main references
Primary English Lab. (2015). Animated Grammar Guides: Noun Phrases. Retrieved  31/08/16 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaSqg8vdxn0&feature=youtu.be
Learnenglish.britishcouncil.org. (2016). Noun phrase. Retrieved 31/08/16 from https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/es/english-grammar/clause-phrase-and-sentence/noun-phrase
Simmons, R. (2016). Grammar Bytes!:The Noun Phrase. Retrieved 31/08/16 from http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/nounphrase.htm 
Griffith, S., Lapidus, F. (2016). American History: The History of Transportation in the United States: Ships, Trains, Cars and Planes (VOA Special English 2010-01-10). Retrieved 05/09/16 from http://www.manythings.org/voa/history/249.html 

Additional references
Eltbase.com. (2016). English grammar - noun phrase - ESL activities| ELTbase.com. Retrieved 31/08/16 from http://www.eltbase.com/vtr_refs.php?id=511