The word-group is a combination of at least two notional words which do not constitute the sentence but are syntactically connected.
General characteristics of the word-group are:
1) As a naming unit it differs from a compound word because the number of constituents in a word-group corresponds to the number of different denotions: a black bird – черная птица (2), a blackbird – дрозд (1); a loud speaker (2), a loudspeaker (1).
2) Each component of the word-group can undergo grammatical changes without destroying the identity of the whole unit: to see a house - to see houses.
3) A word-group is a dependent syntactic unit, it is not a communicative unit and has no intonation of its own.
Classification of word-groups. Word-groups can be classified on the basis of several principles:
a) According to the type of syntagmatic relations: coordinate (you and me), subordinate (to see a house, a nice dress), predicative (him coming, for him to come),
b) According to the structure: simple (all elements are obligatory), expanded (to read and translate the text – expanded elements are equal in rank), extended (a word takes a dependent element and this dependent element becomes the head for another word: a beautiful flower – a very beautiful flower).
