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Anonymous Posted 9 years ago
Vocabulary

Noun phrase

"Last week EU leaders said at a summit that they would begin preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December, a step forward that would allow London to discuss its future trade relationship with the bloc." (Reuters.)

Is preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December a noun phrase and the direct object in the content clause in the sentence above?

  

Top answer

Yes, you are spot on. Last week EU leaders said at a summit that they would begin [ preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December ] , a step forward that would allow London to discuss its future trade relationship with the bloc . "Preparations" is clearly a noun.

  • Yes, you are spot on.
  • Last week EU leaders said at a summit that they would begin [ preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December ] , a step forward that would allow London to discuss its future trade relationship with the bloc .
  • "Preparations" is clearly a noun.
  • It has the infinitival clause "to move into phase two of the Brexit negotiations in December" as its complement.
  • The whole NP (in brackets) is functioning as direct object of "begin".
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1 Answers
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Yes, you are spot on.

Last week EU leaders said at a summit that they would begin [preparations to move into "phase two" of the Brexit negotiations in December], a step forward that would allow London to discuss its future trade relationship with the bloc.

"Preparations" is clearly a noun. It has the infinitival clause "to move into phase two of t

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