Abstract The main theoretical subject of this paper is the symmetry between nominal and verbal projections. It is demonstrated that predication exists in the nominal domain, in a way quite similar to predication in the clausal domain. An analysis of predication in a configurational way – such that the subject and the predicate together constitute a small clause – makes it possible to provide detailed analyses of complex nominal constructions involving predication, and predicate inversion in particular. This paper focusses on three construction types from Dutch: the N-VAN-EEN-N construction (EEN BEER VAN EEN KEREL ’a bear of a guy‘), the WAT-VOOR construction (WAT VOOR EEN KEREL ’what kind of guy‘), and the WAT-EEN exclamative (WAT EEN KEREL ’what a guy‘). Another aspect of symmetry concerns the fact that the nature of the functional projections in the nominal domain is not significantly different from that of functional projections in the clausal domain. For instance, it is argued that copular elements and complementisers are not peculiar to the clausal domain, but that these are found in the nominal domain as well.