[…] sincerity may frighten the boy [...] 'frighten the boy' is a Verb Phrase (VP) consisting of the Verb (V) 'frighten' and the Noun Phrase (NP) 'the boy'; 'sincerity' is also an NP; the NP 'the boy' consists of the Determiner (Det) 'the', followed by a Noun (N); the NP 'sincerity' consists of just an N […]. - Chomsky (1969), a pag.63