'noun' & 'verb' phrases

They are both noun phrases, but they do not convey the same meaning. 1) = the fact that I appreciate your figure. 2) = what I think of (my opinion of) your figure. Truth be told, I think that 2) is awkward and confusing. I'm sure 1) is the message you intend to convey.

I thought you didn't like my appreciating your figure. [gerund-participial clause]
I thought you didn't like my appreciation of your figure. [noun phrase]

I agree that the second is awkward.

Mr. Philip and Mr. Aspara Gus, heartily thanks to both of you for your help. But I've got somewhat confused here.

Mr. Philip said that both the underlined parts were "noun phrases", whereas, Mr. Aspara Gus referred to "my appreciating your figure" as a "gerund - participle clause" and "my appreciation of your figure" as a "noun phrase". I have rea

Unfortunately, different schools of grammar use some terms in different ways.

The word 'clause' was traditionally reserved for a group of words containing a finite verb with its own subject. Some modern grammarians discuss non-finite and verbless clauses.

LaboriousWould you kindly tell me how we could recognize whether a phrase is a gerund phrase, noun phrase, or verb phrase?

A noun phrase is headed by a noun: my appreciation of your figure is an NP because it has the noun appreciation as head.
A verb phrase is headed by a verb: appreciating your figure in your sentence is a VP because

Aspara GusYet, inconsistently, traditionalists take imperatives to be clauses, even though they lack an overt subject (normally) and a finite verb.

Indeed. The structure of English is such that nobody has yet come up with a completely satisfactory set of label to assist in the descrption of it. I doubt if anybody ever will - the language changes all the time.

fivejedjonThe structure of English is such that nobody has yet come up with a completely satisfactory set of label to assist in the descrption of it.

I don’t agree. I think H&P’s description of it in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language is more than satisfactory.

Fine. Others see limitations in the CGEL, but grammar has always been a wonderful area for disagreement.

Aspara GusMy appreciating your figure is a clause with a subject (my) and a predicate (appreciating your figure).

Hi.

How come that the possessive adjective my (a determiner here) is a subject. I wonder whether the pronoun me should do the job of a subject in such a clause.

Thank you once again, Mr. Aspara Gus. And this time for explaining the things that much clearly. I'd like to ask you one more question, please.

You said that if a phrase is headed by a noun, then it's a noun phrase, and if it is headed by a verb, then it's a verb phrase.
But could you tell me how - by looking at a phrase - we can tell whether it's being h