Head / head word
All phrases have what is called a head or head word. This is the word within the phrase that determines its grammatical function (and which acts to provide its most general meaning); other words within the phrase act in a modifying capacity. For example, in the noun phrase ‘the old-fashioned door’, the head word is the noun, door – the remaining words within the phrase act to modify this head word; in a verb phrase such as ‘might be hit’, the head word is the finite verb hit and in a prepositional phrase such as ‘on the table’, the head word is on.
