The apposition

The apposition is a peculiar attribute expressed by a noun or nominal phrase and referring to another noun, nominal phrase, or a clause. The apposition may give another name to, or description of the person or non-person, or else put it in a certain class of persons or non-persons.

From the point of view of their relation to the headword, appositions are subdivided into two types:

a) non-detached appositions:

Sir Peter, Doctor Watson, Colonel Davidson, Mount Everest, etc.

Your friend George Lamb has just telephoned.

b) detached appositions:

Cooper was three inches taller than Mr. Warburton, a strong, muscular young man.

References to words, books, are often expressed in the appositive form: the word “geese”, the good ship “Venus”, the play “Romeo and Juliet”.

The adverbial modifier

Adverbials differ from other types of secondary parts of the sentence in at least three respects:

1) Adverbials are usually optional, i.e. they may be omitted without making the clause unacceptable.

2) Adverbials are not restricted in number, i.e. there may be any number of adverbials in the sentence.

3) Adverbials are often mobile, i.e. they can occur at different places in the sentence.

1. From the point of view of structure (but not communicative value), the use of adverbials may be optional (non-obligatory) or obligatory.

Optional adverbials provide additional information, they are part of the structure of the sentence, but they are not essential to the structure:

Sometimes the children played by the lake.

Adverbials are obligatory when the sentence structure demands one or when their absence changes the meaning of the verb. This is the case:

a) after to behave, to act, to treat:

He behaved bravely.

b) after stative and durative verbs: to live, to wait, to last, etc.:

John lives in London.

c) after verbs implying direction : to put, to send, etc.:

Put the book on the shelf.

d) after verbs of motion and position in space: to come, to step, to sit, etc.:

He went to the dressing-room.

2. From the point of view of their relation to the modified parts of the sentence, adverbials may be non-detached and detached.

Detached adverbials are more loosely related to the modified parts, they are never obligatory and are separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.

Detachment of adverbials may be caused by:

a) their meaning and structure:

He saw the boat, its decks deserted (Absolute Construction).

b) their extension or unusual position in the sentence:

Like him, she saw the danger in it.

c) the speaker’s desire for emphasis:

“He was her father”, said Frances, gravely.

Structural Types of the Adverbial Modifier

From the point of view of its structure the adverbial modifier may be simple, phrasal, complex, clausal.

Simple: We started early.

Phrasal: We started at five in the morning.

Complex: John sat with his elbows on the table and his hands clasped.

Clausal: When the cat is away, the mice will pay.

Semantic Characteristics of the Adverbial Modifier

Semantically adverbials modifiers denote place, time, manner, cause, purpose, result, condition, concession, attendant circumstances, comparison, degree, exception, thus forming semantic classes, such as adverbials of place, time, etc.

1. Adverbial Modifier of Place. Identifying questions: where? where to? where? how far? where from?:

He lives far from his parents.

2. Adverbial Modifier of Time. Identifying questions: when? how often? how long?:

We owned an Alsatian dog once.

3. Adverbial Modifier of Manner. Identifying questions: how? in what way? by what means? Prepositions which may introduce them: with, without, by, by means of, with the help of, etc.:

Hooper danced badly, but with great energy.

4. Adverbial Modifier of Cause (Reason). Identifying questions: why? for what reason? Prepositions which may introduce them: because of, due to, owing to, on account of, for the reason of, thanks to, etc.:

Thanks to my parents I got a decent education.

5. Adverbial Modifier of Purpose. Identifying questions: what for? for what purpose? Prepositions which may introduce them: in order, so as ( never used before an infinitive complex), for (introduces nominal or gerundial phrases):

Jane has come to help us.

6. Adverbial Modifier of Result. It refers to an adjective or adverb accompanied by an adverb of degree too, enough, sufficiently, so… (as; too signals a negative result; enough suggests a necessary amount of quality to perform the action; sometimes modifies a noun with qualitative meaning; so… as implies a realized action:

It is too cold to go out.

7. Adverbial Modifier of Condition. Identifying questions: in what case? on what condition? Prepositions which may introduce them: but for, except for, without; conjunctions if, unless:

Without faith there can be no cure.

8. Adverbial Modifier of Concession. It shows an idea that is in contradiction with what is stated in the modified part of the sentence. Identifying questions: in spite of what? Prepositions which may introduce them: in spite of, despite, conjunctions though, if:

Despite his smile, the man was difficult to deal with.

9. Adverbial Modifier of Attendant Circumstances and Subsequent Events. It states a fact that accompanies the event presented by the modified part of the sentence or an event following the event presented.:

We walked three miles without meeting anyone.

He woke up to see that it was daylight

10. Adverbial Modifier of Comparison. Conjunctions introducing them: than, as, as if, as though, etc.:

A mountain is higher than a hill.

11. Adverbial Modifier of Degree. Identifying questions: how much? to what extent?:

The story is extremely long.

12. Adverbial Modifier of Exception. Prepositions which may introduce them: but, except, save (formal), but for, except for, save for (formal), apart from, aside from, with the exclusion of, etc.:

These men were quite civil save during certain weeks of autumn and winter.