Appositives and Descriptions

Appositives and Descriptions Appositives and Descriptions Appositives and Descriptions By Mark Nichol Writers easily confuse an appositive (a descriptive word or phrase that is equivalent to a person, place, or thing that is named) with a phrase that simply describes a person, place, or thing named, or create confusion by incorrectly wording or punctuating an appositive or a description. The following sentences demonstrate various types of such errors. 1. My name is John Smith, product manager for Global Tetrahedron. This construction creates the impression that â€Å"product manager for Global Tetrahedron† is part of John Smith’s name. That part of the sentence must be made distinct from the main clause as the basis of a separate independent clause (â€Å"My name is John Smith, and I am product manager for Global Tetrahedron†) or the subject must be reworded so that the sentence generically identifies John Smith rather than specifying what supposedly constitutes his name (â€Å"I am John Smith, product manager for Global Tetrahedron†). 2. Jane Jones, president of World Wide Widgets announced that the company will consolidate its product line. The phrase â€Å"president of World Wide Widgets† is an appositive of â€Å"Jane Jones† (Jane Jones is the president of World Wide Widgets, and the president of World Wide Widgets is Jane Jones), so one must be set off parenthetically from the other: â€Å"Jane Jones, president of World Wide Widgets, announced that the company will consolidate its product line.† 3. Jeb Bush’s presence in the race and his fund-raising potential werent enough to dissuade fellow Floridian, Senator Marco Rubio, and more than a dozen other Republicans from entering the race. Inclusion of a comma between a descriptive phrase and the noun or noun phrase it describes, as shown here, is a rampant uncorrected error that encourages even more writers to make the mistake. The problem is the resemblance of a simple descriptive phrase such as â€Å"fellow Floridian† to an appositive phrase such as â€Å"a fellow Floridian,† which is parenthetical and therefore expendable without sacrificing comprehension or completeness. However, â€Å"Fellow Floridian† cannot be excised from the sentence, nor can â€Å"Senator Marco Rubio,† which has been treated as an optional parenthetical. To resolve the problem, delete the parenthetical commas (but also delete Senator, which competes with â€Å"fellow Floridian† as a descriptor) or simply insert a before â€Å"fellow Floridian† (and retain Senator): â€Å"Jeb Bush’s presence in the race and his fund-raising potential werent enough to dissuade fellow Floridian Marco Rubio and more than a dozen other Republicans from entering the race† or â€Å"Jeb Bush’s presence in the race and his fund-raising potential werent enough to dissuade a fellow Floridian, Senator Marco Rubio, and more than a dozen other Republicans from entering the race.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:12 Signs and Symbols You Should KnowTaser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?List of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!