Question 1

In the sentence at 00:41, My older sister, Griselda, is going to college in the fall; if I put Griselda at the beginning of the sentence, it continues as an appositive? Griselda, my older sister, is going to college in the fall.

Accepted Answer

In that sentence ("Griselda, my older sister, is ..."), the appositive is "my older sister." It appears between two commas and provides additional information about Griselda (the fact that she is "my older sister").

In the first example, "Griselda" is the appositive because it shows up between two commas and is providing additional information about "my older sister" (the fact that her name is Griselda).

Hope this helps!

Question 2

When you have an appositive in a sentence you put a comma either side of it like this: "The squirrel, Mr Nutty, was playing leap frog." But would you put a comma in if the appositive isn't there like this: "The squirrel, was playing leap frog."
I hope I've made this question clear enough.

Accepted Answer

"The squirrel, was playing leap frog" is incorrect
the correct sentence is "The squirrel was playing leap frog". In the first, there is an extra pause, the comma. In short, you wouldn't have the comma.

Question 3

i don't know how to use a apostrophe in a sentence can someone help me everyday except for saturday and sunday please and thank you.

Accepted Answer

There are two basic ways to use the apostrophe: to show possession (ex. Bob’s dog = the dog that belongs to Bob) and to join two words in a contraction (ex. Bob’s happy = Bob is happy).

Khan Academy also has some videos on the apostrophe: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar/punctuation-the-comma-and-the-apostrophe

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/grammar/punctuation-the-comma-and-the-apostrophe/apostrophes-and-contractions/v/introduction-to-the-apostrophe-the-apostrophe-punctuation-khan-academy

Let me know if you need more help on this topic!

Question 4

so you're saying  "appositives" are a noun phrase that describes a sentence. right?

Accepted Answer

An appositive is, indeed, a noun phrase. But it does not describe a sentence, it just tells you a little bit more about the noun to which it stands in apposition.

"Sarah, my sister, is pregnant."

Question 5

I have a question. I did a question in the exercise and it said: "I get to work by train my preferred mode of transportation". They told me to correct this sentence. So is "I get to work by train, my preferred mode, of transportation" also correct? They said it was wrong.

Accepted Answer

One way to double check yourself is by checking if you can take out your appositive with the sentence still making sense. So in your attempt if you were to take out your appositive, "my preferred mode," you would be left with the sentence "I get to work by train of transportation" which doesn't make much sense. That's why "I get to work by train,  my preferred mode of transportation." is correct. We can take out the appositive "my preferred mode of transportation."

Question 6

and it could be on the start, middle or end. correct?

Accepted Answer

If you're asking about where an appositive might go in a sentence, you're OK (except the appositive usually goes next to the thing to which it stands in apposition).  So, let's try a few.

Appositive at the beginning of a sentence:
"Isa, a prophet in Islam, said some very good things."

Appositive in the middle of a sentence.
"The red car I bought from Stan, the salesman, is fast."

Appositive at the end of a sentence.
"She answered a question asked by Ibrahim, my student at Khan Academy."

Question 7

Why cant i just say "they stopped selling snickers"
insted of "they stopped selling my favriote candy,snickers"

Accepted Answer

You can say, "They stopped selling snickers."  But if the people who aren't familiar with "snickers" read the sentence, no meaning will come through.  After all, "Snickers" could be a brand of toilet paper, or shovels, or rat poison.

By adding in the information that snickers is your favorite candy, the reader learns something about you,(your favor) and something about snickers (that it is candy).

Question 8

So... could you also say: "Griselda, my sister, is going to college this fall." In that case, would my sister be the Appositive? Or is Griselda still the Appositive?

Accepted Answer

Whatever is contained in the commas is the appositive, so in that case `my sister` would be the appositive.

Question 9

appositive almost sounds like apostrophe. Do they have anything in common besides at 0:20-"ad"

Accepted Answer

Great question, Isabella!

They're similar sounding, but they have different origins: `appositive` comes from the Latin `ad-`, a prefix meaning _to_, and `ponere`, which means _to place or put_.  When you put the prefix `ad-` in front of a root that begins with a different consonant, the `d` changes to match that consonant, doubling it.

Thus `ad` + `positio` = `appositive`; `ad` + `sonus` = `assonance`.

Meanwhile, `apostrophe` is a compound from Greek: `apo` is Greek for _away_, and `strephein` is Greek for _to turn_.

English is a path with many footprints on it.  Not everything that sounds alike is necessarily related.

Question 10

How does the word 'that' work?
Ex. Can you hand me that towel?
In the sentence above, it makes sense that 'towel' is clarifying what 'that' is. But putting a comma after the word 'that' makes the sentence sound weird. Is there a special exception to the 'appositive rule', or is this not technically an appositive?

Accepted Answer

An appositive is a noun phrase in which one noun (or pronoun) is used, then another is used to clarify it. `that towel` may seem like an appositive, but really `that` is acting as an adjective describing which towel, and thus `that towel` is just a regular noun phrase: adjective, noun.

Grammar

Course: Grammar > Unit 6

Appositives

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