IELTS Writing Task 1: long noun phrases

One feature of many academic task 1 answers is this: the verbs that we use are often easy, but the noun phrases that we write are long and relatively difficult.

Look at the following examples from my most recent sample answer:

Verbs are highlighted in green.
Noun phrases are highlighted in blue.

1. Export revenues in all but one of the five product categories increased.
2. The country’s export earnings from these goods went up by 8.5%.

So, don't try to impress the examiner with the verb structures that you use in writing task 1. Work on your noun phrases instead.

Comments

[Gaurav]

Can you tell how can we improve 'noun phrases'.

[Simon]

Good question Guarav. I'll try to make a noun phrases exercise for next week's task 1 lesson.

[Pachu]

Noun phrases
Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

People like to have money.
I am tired.
Premodifiers

But noun phrases can also include:

1.determiners: Those houses are very expensive.
2. quantifiers: I've lived in a lot of houses.
3.numbers: My brother owns two houses.
4.adjectives: I love old houses.

These parts of the noun phrase are called premodifiers because they go before the noun.

We use premodifiers in this order:
Premodifiers

But noun phrases can also include:

determiners: Those houses are very expensive.
quantifiers: I've lived in a lot of houses.
numbers: My brother owns two houses.
adjectives: I love old houses.

These parts of the noun phrase are called premodifiers because they go before the noun.
We use premodifiers in this order:
determiners and quantifiers > numbers > adjectives + NOUNS.
The six children.
All those six young children.
Postmodifiers:
Other parts of a noun phrase go after the noun. These are called postmodifiers.

Postmodifiers can be:

prepositional phrases:

a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner

–ing phrases :

the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela

relative clauses :

the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

that clauses. These are very common after nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:

He's still very fit, in spite of the fact that he's over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn't like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.

to infinitives :

I've got no decent shoes to wear.

These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.

There may be more than one postmodifier:

an eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a Coke
Other parts of a noun phrase go after the noun. These are called postmodifiers.

Postmodifiers can be:
prepositional phrases:
a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner
ing phrases :
the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela
relative clauses :
the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop
that clauses. These are very common after nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:
He's still very fit, in spite of the fact that he's over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn't like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.
to infinitives :
I've got no decent shoes to wear.
These are very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
There may be more than one postmodifier:
n eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a Coke.

[Pachu]

sorry, some repetition is above.please avoid it.