Problems with past time reference and phrases

[Oxygenium]

Hello everyone,
1.I've got a problem with defining which elements in the sentence below are NPs:
'Very few people have visited this neighbourhood in recent years '

2. Could you also tell me how the past time reference is achieved in both main and subordinate clauses in:
'John must have chosen the wrong exist when he was leaving the motorway'?

I will be grateful!

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum.

What are NPs?

Please ask unrelated questions in separate threads.

 

[Oxygenium]

Thank you and sorry, I didn't know!

By NP I meant Noun Phrases.

 

[Tdol]

What's your problem with the NPs? Surely, the second is the tenses, isn't it? There's nothing else that refers to past time.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hello everyone,
1.I've got a problem with defining which elements in the sentence below are NPs:
'Very few people have visited this neighbourhood in recent years '

2. Could you also tell me how the past time reference is achieved in both main and subordinate clauses in:
'John must have chosen the wrong exist when he was leaving the motorway'?

I will be grateful!

The place to start when looking for noun phrases is identifying nouns. Can you identify the nouns in your first sentence?

 

[Oxygenium]

1.Obviously I can. I'd say that in this sentence there are 3 NPs, but it's not true and I don't know why. I'd say that: very few people, this neighbourhood and recent years are noun phrases, but they're not.

2. It isn't actually the tense here that makes the past reference, especially in 'must have chosen'. It seems to me it's a perfect aspect which is achieved by the use of base form of have after modal must. But I'm not sure unfortunately.

I'm sorry I didn't write that, but it's descriptive, not prescriptive grammar, so it's more about the description of English, not the general rules.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[MikeNewYork]

1.Obviously I can. I'd say that in this sentence there are 3 NPs, but it's not true and I don't know why. I'd say that: very few people, this neighbourhood and recent years are noun phrases, but they're not.

2. It isn't actually the tense here that makes the past reference, especially in 'must have chosen'. It seems to me it's a perfect aspect which is achieved by the use of base form of have after modal must. But I'm not sure unfortunately.

I'm sorry I didn't write that, but it's descriptive, not prescriptive grammar, so it's more about the description of English, not the general rules.

Thanks for all your help!

Who told you they were not noun phrases?

 

[5jj]

I'd say that in this sentence there are 3 NPs, but it's not true and I don't know why.

For those who use these terms, "in recent years", being headed by a preposition, is, I think, a preposition phrase.

 

[MikeNewYork]

For those who use these trms, "in recent years", being headed by a preposition, is, I think, a preposition phrase.

Yes, but it can be said that a "noun phrase" is the object of the preposition in that "prepositional phrase". It all depends on how thin one wants to slice it.

 

[Barb_D]

Yes, but it can be said that a "noun phrase" is the object of the preposition in that "prepositional phrase". It all depends on how thin one wants to slice it.

I would have said the same thing.

In recent year - prepositional phrase.
recent years - noun phrase

 

[Barb_D]

1.Obviously I can.

Actually, that's not obvious at all. A lot of people come here unable to do this.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I would have said the same thing.

In recent year - prepositional phrase.
recent years - noun phrase

In my experience, the definition of a noun phrase is very simple: a noun and all its modifiers. It doesn't matter if the noun is the subject, the direct object, a predicate nominative, or the object of a preposition.

 

[I.M. Knott]

'John must have chosen the wrong exist when he was leaving the motorway'?
Questions:
Is exist used intentionally? If so, why?
Or is it a "typo" for existence or exit?

 

[Barb_D]

'John must have chosen the wrong exist when he was leaving the motorway'?
Questions:
Is exist used intentionally? If so, why?
Or is it a "typo" for existence or exit?

It is a typo for "exit."