appositives

Inline noun explanations

Appositives is the plural of appositive, a grammatical term for a noun or noun phrase that sits beside another noun to identify or describe it.

In My brother Tom lives in Seattle, Tom is an appositive renaming brother.

Appositives can be essential to meaning or merely add extra information, with the latter typically set off by commas: The city, a bustling metropolis, never sleeps.

grammar

nonrestrictive

Not defining or limiting

restrictiveImposing narrow boundaries
clauseProvision in agreement
phraseWords forming partial meaning

syntax · commas · punctuation · sentence · structure · modifier · noun · parenthetical · insertion · interpolation

function

clarification

Making meaning plain

identificationEstablishing who someone is
renamingGiving new designation
definitionStatement of meaning

elaboration · specification · explanation · amplification · expansion · restatement · equivalence · annotation · gloss · exemplifying

punctuation

commas

Punctuation for pauses

dashesShort fast races
parenthesesCurved enclosing punctuation marks
bracketsMarks setting off text

colons · offsetting · enclosing · delimiting · separating · pausing · interjection · aside · interruption · insertion

naming

nickname

Informal substitute name

aliasAdopted false name
titleFormal honorific or name
epithetDescriptive tag for someone

sobriquet · moniker · designation · label · byname · pseudonym · pen-name · cognomen · aka · called

Opposites

grammatical function

appositivespredicates

States or affirms

subjects · antecedents · main clauses · verbs · referents

syntactic essentiality

appositivesessential elements

Indispensable constituent parts

Family

appositive

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