appositive
1
8.9
- adjective
- /əˈpɒzɪtɪv/
- Specialized
- Like other grammatical tools, appositive elements follow certain patterns.
Examples
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Appositive elements can also be moved around within the sentence.
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Appositive components come in two forms.
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In these examples, a comma is required on both sides of the appositive to set it off from the rest of the sentence.
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An appositive is a word or phrase placed next to a noun to provide additional information, such as 'My brother, an avid sailor, loves the ocean.'
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In the sentence 'My friend, the appositive, created that sculpture,' 'the artist' is an appositive that identifies my friend.
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You often use an appositive to clarify or expand on a noun, like in 'The capital of France, Paris, is known for its art and culture.'
Synonyms
1
8.9
A word that comes next to a noun to give its name, like 'Alice' in 'my friend Alice'
Surface Forms
Morphology
appositive = apposition (semi-transparent) = apposition + ive
The adjective is formed from the grammatical noun 'apposition' plus the productive suffix '-ive', but 'apposition' is a technical term that many learners may not know, so the relation is not fully obvious to an average B1 learner.
Etymology
Appositive comes from Latin parts meaning 'to put next to': ad- 'to' and ponere 'to place', and you can see the same posit in the English word position. So an appositive is a word or phrase placed beside a noun to explain or identify it.