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Apposition
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Apposition
Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so one element identifies the other in a different way. The two elements are said to be "in apposition", and the element identifying the other is called the appositive. The identification of an appositive requires consideration of how the elements are used in a sentence.
For example, in these sentences, the phrases Alice Smith and my sister are in apposition, with the appositive identified with italics:
Traditionally, appositives were called by their Latin name appositio, derived from the Latin ad ("near") and positio ("placement"), although the English form is now more commonly used.
Apposition is a figure of speech of the scheme type and often results when the verbs (particularly verbs of being) in supporting clauses are eliminated to produce shorter descriptive phrases. That makes them often function as hyperbatons, or figures of disorder, because they can disrupt the flow of a sentence. For example, in the phrase "My wife, a surgeon by training, ..." it is necessary to pause before the parenthetical modification "a surgeon by training".
A restrictive appositive provides information essential to identifying the phrase in apposition. It limits or clarifies that phrase in some crucial way, such that the meaning of the sentence would change if the appositive were removed. In English, restrictive appositives are not set off by commas. The sentences below use restrictive appositives. Here and elsewhere in this section, the relevant phrases are marked as the appositive phraseA or the phrase in appositionP.
A non-restrictive appositive provides information not critical to identifying the phrase in apposition. It provides non-essential information, and the essential meaning of the sentence would not change if the appositive were removed. In English, non-restrictive appositives are typically set off by commas. The sentences below use non-restrictive appositives.
The same phrase can be a restrictive appositive in one context and a non-restrictive appositive in another:
If there is any doubt that the appositive is non-restrictive, it is safer to use the restrictive punctuation.[citation needed] In the example above, the restrictive first sentence is still correct even if there is only one brother.
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Apposition
Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so one element identifies the other in a different way. The two elements are said to be "in apposition", and the element identifying the other is called the appositive. The identification of an appositive requires consideration of how the elements are used in a sentence.
For example, in these sentences, the phrases Alice Smith and my sister are in apposition, with the appositive identified with italics:
Traditionally, appositives were called by their Latin name appositio, derived from the Latin ad ("near") and positio ("placement"), although the English form is now more commonly used.
Apposition is a figure of speech of the scheme type and often results when the verbs (particularly verbs of being) in supporting clauses are eliminated to produce shorter descriptive phrases. That makes them often function as hyperbatons, or figures of disorder, because they can disrupt the flow of a sentence. For example, in the phrase "My wife, a surgeon by training, ..." it is necessary to pause before the parenthetical modification "a surgeon by training".
A restrictive appositive provides information essential to identifying the phrase in apposition. It limits or clarifies that phrase in some crucial way, such that the meaning of the sentence would change if the appositive were removed. In English, restrictive appositives are not set off by commas. The sentences below use restrictive appositives. Here and elsewhere in this section, the relevant phrases are marked as the appositive phraseA or the phrase in appositionP.
A non-restrictive appositive provides information not critical to identifying the phrase in apposition. It provides non-essential information, and the essential meaning of the sentence would not change if the appositive were removed. In English, non-restrictive appositives are typically set off by commas. The sentences below use non-restrictive appositives.
The same phrase can be a restrictive appositive in one context and a non-restrictive appositive in another:
If there is any doubt that the appositive is non-restrictive, it is safer to use the restrictive punctuation.[citation needed] In the example above, the restrictive first sentence is still correct even if there is only one brother.