9 noun phrases
A noun phrase consists of a noun and any words that describe or ‘modify’ the noun. Here is
an example of a noun phrase with the noun emphasized.
三个大老虎
三個大老虎
sān gè dà láohǔ
three big tigers
Additional examples of noun phrases are presented below.
In this chapter, we refer to the noun that is being described or modified as the head noun and
to the words or phrases that describe or modify the head noun as the modifier.
In Mandarin Chinese, the relative position of modifier and noun is constant:
In Chinese, all noun modifiers occur before the head noun.
9.1 Modifying a noun with a specifier and/or number
Nouns can be modified by
a specifier (‘this,’ ‘that,’ ‘which?’)
or a number (‘four,’ ‘twenty’),
or a specifier and number together (‘these four,’ ‘those twenty,’ ‘which two?’)
In Mandarin, the classifier associated with the noun being modified must be included in the
modifying phrase. The entire phrase precedes the head noun as follows:
specifier + classifier + noun
那 本 书
那 本 書
nà běn shū
that book
number + classifier + noun
两 本 书
兩 本 書
liǎng běn shū
two books
