Question

Identify the noun phrase (s) in the given sentence-
The girl in the red dress who is sitting beside Sally is my younger sister.
a) The girl
b) in the red dress
c) who is sitting beside Sally
d) The girl in the red dress who is sitting beside Sally

Answer 1

Hint: Noun phrases refer to phrases that act like a noun in a sentence. Noun phrases can also function like a subject, object, or prepositional object.

Complete answer:
As given in the hint, ‘noun phrases’ can be clearly seen as nouns functioning with modifiers.
Example- The old book was made out of wooden bark. Here, ‘book’ is the modifier.
In the given question- We can understand that the girl, ‘X’ in the red dress sitting beside Sally is Y’s younger sister. Here, ‘the girl’ is the noun while ‘red dress’ is the modifier that modifies the noun.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘The girl’ is not a noun phrase, as it indicates a common noun. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option b- ‘in the red dress’ is a dependent clause as it expresses incomplete meaning. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option c- ‘who is sitting beside Sally’ is also a dependent clause as it expresses incomplete meaning. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option d- ‘The girl in the red dress who is sitting beside Sally’ is a noun phrase as it includes a noun and a modifier. Hence, it is the correct option.
So, the correct answer is “Option d”.

Note:
A modifier can be placed before or even after the noun but their position determines the function of the modifier. Example- A modifier placed before a noun usually acts as an article.