Question

Pick out the noun phrase from the given sentence:
I saw the little boy crying.
a) I
b) I saw
c) the little boy
d) crying

Answer 1

Hint:Noun phrases are the phrases that function as a noun themselves. This means that they are usually more than one word long and are valid as subjects or objects. A noun phrase can be either a subject or an object.

Complete answer:
A noun phrase is a word or group of words that functions in a sentence as subject, object, or prepositional object. It is a phrase that has a noun as its head or performs the same grammatical function as a noun. It can also include modifiers such as ‘the’. It can also be the object in a sentence.
It can also include an adjective as long as there is a noun in the sentence and no verb included. This makes it clear that the rules for a noun phrase are very definite.
Now, we know what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:

a) I - This is the subject of the sentence. This is not a noun, it is used as a replacement for a noun. This makes it a pronoun. This is not a noun phrase, as it only contains one word. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
b) I saw - This is the verb of the sentence. It contains two words, however, one of them is a verb. This makes it clear that this is not a noun phrase. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect answer.
c) the little boy - This is the object of the sentence. It contains three words, and it does not contain a verb. It only contains a noun along with a modifier and an adjective. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
d) crying - This is a continuous verb of the sentence. It only contains one word, and therefore, is not a phrase. This word is also a verb, which is not included in any noun phrases. This is not the required answer. So, it is an incorrect option.

Note:
Deconstruct the given sentence. Identify and understand each part of the speech in the above sentence. This will help you identify the subject and the object. Go through the option and pick out the correct option.