Take a look at these examples:
• A long-nosed monkey
• A reddish-brown monkey

A noun group is used to describe the characteristics of an animal or give more information about an animal.. We can use a noun group.

A noun group is a group of words around a noun or a headword. It contains a main noun (e.g. A monkey). The other words in the noun group such as long-nosed, reddish-brown are adjectives. They tell more about the main noun

​We write the adjectives before the noun.

​Let’s take a look at the following examples:
. The big monkey
• The big, long-nosed monkey in a mangrove tree
• The big, long-nosed, reddish-brown monkey in a mangrove tree
• The big, long-nosed, reddish-brown monkey in a mangrove tree is playing.

The noun groups above are all about a monkey. We can see that as the sentences get longer, the adjectives give us more information about the monkeys.

​PRACTICE

“Now, underline the noun groups in the following sentences. Number one has been done for you.”

​1. The two big, long-nosed, hairy monkeys are climbing the mangrove trees.
2. A strong, large, black gorilla is feeding on bamboo shoots.
3. That big, tall, grayish black mammal is called an elephant.
4. Orangutans are large, reddish-orange primate that are famous for their intelligence.
5. The female Helmeted Hornbill has a bluish white featherless patch on its neck.
6. Komodo dragons are the largest living lizards on Earth.