1、Appositives Grammar:Appositives Writing:Correcting:Clutters Rewriting:How to order your ideas,Appositives,An appositive is a noun or a pronoun that is placed next to another noun or pronoun to identify it or give additional information about it.Jack is our neighbor.He is a well-known captain.Our nei
2、ghbor Jack is a well-known captain.An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any words that modify the appositive.St.Peter is one of the most famous forts in Europe.It is often visited by young men in winter.St.Peter,one of the most famous forts in Europe,is often visited by young men in winter.,We
3、 generally use commas to set off any appositive or appositive phrase that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence.She is saving money to travel to Rome.Rome is the capital of Italy.She is saving money to travel to Rome,the capital of Italy.（The appositive phrase the capital of Italy is not e
4、ssential because Italy has only one capital.）,An essential appositive gives necessary information about a noun and is not set off with commas.The Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes book.The book has been taken as one of the most controversial love stories.Hawthornes book The Scarlet Letter has been taken
5、as one of the most controversial love stories.（Hawthorne wrote many books,so The Scarlet Letter is necessary to make clear which one is the one of the most controversial love stories.）,Apart from indicating all meaning of the noun or pronoun it goes along,an appositive can also denote part of its me
6、aning.We Chinese people are brave and hardworking.He is interested in sports,especially ball games.We often see dashes before such expressions as namely and for instance,expressions that introduce appositives.All of them namely,most of them have the course.Some vegetables for instance,carrots and ga
7、rlic can help cure certain diseases.,When a pronoun is followed by an appositive,choose the case of the pronoun that would be correct if the appositive were omitted.We are young men.We should take the task of reconstruction of our homes after the earthquake.We young men should take the task of recon
8、struction of our homes after the earthquake.She is the best teacher of the college.The college gave her an award for excellence.The college gave her,its best teacher,an award for excellence.,Appositive give extra information about the subject but dont change its number.Make sure you dont mistake a w
9、ord in an appositive for the subject of the sentence.The students each has a dictionary.The students each have a dictionary.E.T.is one of my favorite films.It is directed by Steven Spielberg.E.T.,one of my favorite films,is directed by Steven Spielberg.,An appositive provides more information about
10、a noun like an adjective clause.In fact,we may take an appositive as a simplified adjective clause,that is,to omit the relative pronoun and the verb be.Toni Morrison,who is the winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 1993,is an Afro-American authoress.Toni Morrison,the winner of Nobel Prize for lite
11、rature in 1993,is an Afro-American authoress.He has sent a thank-you letter to the company,which is a friendly acquirer in a takeover.He has sent a thank-you letter to the company,a friendly acquirer in a takeover.However,not all adjective clauses can be reduced to appositives in this way-only those
12、 that give extra information and also have a form of the verb to be（is,are,was,were）.,1.Kinds of appositives,Appositives usually appear in four forms.1）Single appositive The most common type of appositives is single appositive which is a noun or a noun phrase used to identify or rename a noun in a s
13、entence and sometimes may instead repeat a noun for the sake of clarity and emphasis:Titanic was a great ship.The ship was in Southampton.The ship sailed on April 10th,1912.Its destination is New York.The great ship,Titanic,sailed for New York from Southampton on April 10th,1912.,2）Multiple appositi
14、ves Two,three,or even more appositives may appear alongside the same noun to give an explanation or extra information:My house was flooded.All of my school work got washed away.My school work includes physics,literature,sociology,and calculus All of my school workphysics,literature,sociology,and cal
15、culusgot washed away when my house was flooded.Commas or dashes may be used to set off an appositive.Dashes are useful to prevent confusion when the appositive itself contains commas.Also,using dashes instead of commas serves to emphasize the appositive.,3）List appositives List appositives often go
16、before a pronoun such as all or those or everyone.The pronoun helps to clarify the subject by drawing the items together though it is not essential to the meaning of the sentence:the opening list could serve by itself as the subject.The hill seems to impact on me.The river seems to impact on me.Even
17、 the tree seems to impact on me.Even the piece of rock seems to impact on me.The hill,the river,even the tree,the piece of rock,all seem to impact on me.,4）Negative appositives Most appositives identify what someone or something is,but there are also negative appositives that identify what someone o
18、r something is not.Negative appositives usually begin with a word such as not,never,or rather than.Male students are unlikely to take nursing classes at school.Female students are most likely to take nursing classes at school.Female students,not male students,are most likely to take nursing classes
19、at school.People are the real creators of the history.Heroes are hardly the real creators of the history.People,rather than heroes,are the real creators of the history.,2.Position of appositives,An appositive most often appears directly after the noun or pronoun it identifies,explains or renames:He
20、told me this by himself.His uncle is named Jim.His uncle is a black poet.His uncle is world-famous.He himself told me that his uncle Jim is a world-famous black poet.,Occasionally,an appositive may comes before a word that it identifies or renames.When at the beginning of a sentence,the appositive i
21、s always separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.Mexico City has many archaeological sites.These sites are interesting.Mexico City is the biggest city in the world.The biggest city in the world,Mexico City has many interesting archaeological sites.,An appositive may also be placed at the
22、very end of a sentence.The end appositive is usually given a special emphasis.Compare:a）The train finally arrived and two young menone big and broad，the other small and slightstepped onto the platform.b）The train finally arrived and two young men stepped onto the platformone big and broad,the other
23、small and slight.The appositive in sentence A merely interrupts the sentence to give extra information while it marks the climax of the sentence B.,Exercises 1:Combine the sentences in each set into one sentence with an appositive phrase.,He is now an American citizen.He is a person of French origin
24、.A person of French origin,he is now an American citizen.Thomas Jefferson may be less famous than George Washington.Thomas Jefferson may be less famous than Abraham Lincoln.Thomas Jefferson is the third president of the United States.Thomas Jefferson，the third president of the United States，may be l
25、ess famous than George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.They put the tools in place.The tools are of my new business.The tools are currycomb,brush and pitchfork.They put in place the tools of my new businesscurrycomb,brush and pitchfork.,Who is that man?The man is the first in the front row.Who is tha
26、t man,the first in the front row?5.Mary is planning to attend the university.I know some most intelligent girls.Mary is one of them.Mary,one of the most intelligent girls I know,is planning to attend the university.6.My favorite professors gave talks.Dr.Harry and she are my favorite professors.The t
27、alks were interesting.My favorite professors,Dr.Harry and she,gave interesting talks.7.Grandmother left her money.The money was given to her favorite people.Simon and I were her favorite.Grandmother left her money to her favorite people,Simon and me.,Clutters,“Clutter”in writing may be described as
28、anything that clogs up the channel between the writers imagination and the readers experience.When revising,we should aim to cut out any language that is vague,empty,or repetitious.In other words,clear out the deadwood,be concise and get to the point!Dont use a dependent clause if a phrase will do.D
29、ont use a phrase if a word will do.,1.Reduce Long ClausesWhen revising,try to reduce long clauses to shorter phrases.Most attributive clauses that begin with“who/that,which+be”can be reduced to phrases by deleting the part“who/that,which+be”.Most adverbial clauses that begin with“a pronoun+be”can al
30、so be reduced to phrases by deleting the part“a pronoun+be”.Wordy:I met a young lady who was still in her teens.Concise:I met a young lady still in her teens.Wordy:When you are in difficulty,you may ask for her help.Concise:When in difficulty,you may ask for her help.,2.Reduce Phrases Similarly,try
31、to reduce phrases to single words:Wordy:What will happen in the event that you fail again?Concise:What will happen if you fail again?As the Minister says,the number of the people regularly going in for sport has risen by 95 thousand.Concise:As the Minister says,the number of the people regularly tra
32、ining has risen by 95 thousand.,3.Avoid Empty Openers Avoid“There be”as a sentence opener when it adds nothing to the meaning of a sentence:There is nothing unusual there.Concise:Nothing is unusual there.Wordy:There was a steep rise in prices.Concise:Prices rise steeply.,4.Avoid Redundancies Redunda
33、ncies are needless words that add nothing（or nothing important）to the meaning of our writing.Check out the following list of common redundancies and replace them with precise words or delete the words with overlapping meanings while writing.,advance（forward）（advance）warning add（an additional）（brief）summary cla
