appositive

Beside-the-noun phrase

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or explains another noun right beside it: My brother, a doctor, lives in Boston.

The appositive "a doctor" clarifies which person is meant.

Appositives are typically set off by commas, though restrictive ones that are essential to meaning are not: My friend Sarah called.

grammar

noun phrase

Multi-word noun construction

nonrestrictiveNot defining or limiting
restrictiveImposing narrow boundaries
parentheticalSet off by punctuation

commas · syntax · modifier · antecedent · clause · grammatical · punctuation · sentence · construction · dashes

rhetoric

amplification

Increase in intensity

parallelismMatching structural elements
epithetDescriptive tag for someone
styleDistinctive way of expression

figure · device · arrangement · emphasis · elaboration · ornamentation · flourish · embellishment

clarify

explanatory

Serving to clarify meaning

identifyEstablish who or what
specifyState in detail
elucidateTo make understood

elaborate · expand · define · illustrate · exemplify · restate · paraphrase · gloss · annotation · explication

Categories

grammar termsnoun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun
Adjunctssupplement, auxiliary, addition, helper, add-on
syntaxsentence, verb, noun, adjective, adverb
noun grammarnoun, noun phrase, case, declension, noun clause
grammardeclension, pronouns, adjectives, conjugation, nouns
grammar partsnoun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun

Opposites

grammatical function

appositivepredicate

Sentence's non-subject portion

subject · attributive · complement · antecedent · direct object

syntactic relationship

appositiveantecedent

Something that precedes

modifier · subordinate clause · adjunct · determinative

syntactic dependency

appositivecore argument

Primary thesis being defended

Family

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Abstract · Rated G