The interpretation of dokterfamily doctor in (110a) is that of the profession/social function; it predicates the property “family doctor by profession” of the subject. The nominal predicate receives what we will call a profession reading and is interpreted objectively. This objective interpretation is clear from the fact that bare NPs cannot enter the vinden-construction in (111a), which inherently expresses a subjective evaluation by the referent of the subject of the clause. Further, it is clear from the fact illustrated in (111b) that subjective modifiers cannot be added to the bare noun phrase. Finally, the nominal predicate cannot have an inherently positive or negative connotation, as is the case with schoolfrik in (111c).

This sets the bare NP apart from the predicatively used noun phrases introduced by the indefinite article eena in (112), which may or may not denote the profession of being a teacher; cf. the discussion in Subsection III below.

This semantic distinction between bare NPs and indefinite noun phrases, introduced by the article een, is typical for the domain of nominal predicates and does not occur elsewhere. For instance, the examples in (113) show that the preposition zonderwithout can take either a bare noun phrase or an indefinite noun phrase as its complement, but it seems difficult to discern any describable semantic difference between the two examples. Note that evaluative modifiers can be used in both cases, and that the noun can express an inherently subjective connotation, such as pillendraaier (lit.: someone who makes pills).

As already mentioned in 22.2.1, sub III, predicative bare noun phrases can also be used in their profession reading in phrases introduced by als, tot, and occasionally voor. In this reading the noun phrase must be bare, i.e. it cannot be introduced by the indefinite article een.

This does not mean that examples such as (115a') are impossible. However, if an indefinite article is present, the noun phrase loses its profession reading, and the example can only be used in a metaphorical sense: example (115a') means that Jan drives very fast. This metaphorical use of als-phrases is very productive, and always involves a noun phrase introduced by an indefinite article; cf. (115b&c).

All of the examples so far have involved nouns denoting [+human] entities. It is therefore useful to show that inanimate noun phrases can sometimes also be used in constructions without an article, both in the copular construction and as the complement of als. This is illustrated in (116).

Like its bare counterpart, the definite nominal predicate in (110b), Hij is de dokterHe is the physician, has the objective profession reading. As usual, the semantic contribution of the definite article is that of uniqueness in the domain of discourse; example (110b) can be used in contexts where there is an implicit institution or social unit (e.g. a neighborhood or a hospital) in which the referent of the subject can be uniquely identified by means of the nominal predicate: Hij is de dokter in deze buurt/...He is the family doctor in this neighborhood/.... Examples like these can also be used in a script-like context: Hij is de dokter in deze serieHe plays the family doctor in this series. The definite article is obligatory when the noun phrase contains a superlative or some other element that implies that the noun phrase has a unique reference.

The indefinite nominal predicate need not imply anything about the subject’s profession. In the sentence Hij is een dokterHe is a physician, the predicate can also be interpreted subjectively and express that, in the eyes of the speaker, the subject behaves like a doctor or shows characteristics in his behavior that are typical of doctors (e.g. wearing a white coat or using a lot of medical terminology). The difference can be made clearer by considering example (118) with the verb lijkento seem, in which the modal particle wel emphasizes the fact that the addressee is not really a teacher, but only resembles one.

That nominal predicates preceded by an indefinite article can be of an inherently subjective/evaluative or metaphorical nature is also supported by the fact that examples such as (119a) can be used as an insult comparable to the one in (119b). Interestingly, the primeless examples alternate with the constructions in the primed examples in which a bare noun phrase acts as the antecedent of the pronoun that functions as the predicate in the clausal part of the construction.

We will not attempt to analyze the construction in the primed examples of (119) here, but it is clear that it raises several questions. First, it is unclear why the bare noun phrase does not receive the objective, profession reading discussed in Subsection I. Second, it is not clear why the bare noun phrase can function as the antecedent of the pronoun, given that the indefinite article in the primeless examples is obligatory. Third, it is not clear why the pronoun can be die, which normally cannot function as nominal predicate, as is clear from the left-dislocation constructions in (120).

Finally, what is the reason that the clausal part of the construction is omissible? We will not venture to answer these questions here, but leave them to future research.

The interpretation of a nominal predicate that is part of a supplementive als-phrase also depends on the presence or absence of the indefinite article; cf. Van den Toorn (1981:50). In (121a) the bare NP must be interpreted in the profession reading, whereas (121a') is metaphorical and expresses that Jan’s speech resembles the speech of a vicar; cf. also the discussion of example (115). Example (121b) expresses that Marie lived in digs when she was a student, whereas (121b') is again metaphorical and compares Marie’s mode of housing to that of a student.

Finally, it may be interesting to note that the interpretation of the definite genitival nominal predicate in (122a) is relatively close to examples with an indefinite noun phrase in that it denotes a set of typical properties of a certain real-world entity. It is different, however, in that it does not need to denote a profession and requires the subject to refer to a certain type of behavior. By far the most striking feature is the “mock archaic” use of the genitive case: the genitive determiner des, which was originally the singular masculine/neuter article, is now also used with feminine and plural noun phrases, as in (122b&c), and with proper nouns like Ajax, as in (122d). For discussion and representative examples, see onzetaal.nl/taaladvies/advies/des-vrouws and especially Hoeksema (1998) .

The three types of nominal predicates discussed in the previous subsections exhibit different syntactic behavior in different ways, related to their semantic properties. Here we will discuss some of them, without claiming to discuss the differences exhaustively.