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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
a quoted content in apposition
Hi,
I am confused about what is considered to be in apposition when we are dealing with a quoted content.I think I asked about the placement of commas for the sentences below and Mr. M. said the quoted phrases are in apposition to excuse and question.
To the question, "Is your English getting better?" he answered, "Yes, it is."
However, the excuse, "I am not good at English", is not ...
If those are in apposition to the words stated, then why the sentence below can be said to be in apposition to the word 'expression'?
The expression"I am not good at English" is jsut as correct as "I am not good in English."
What is standard of measurement for something to be said to be in apposition? Is there any tangible measuring stick or 'coloring' test to test validity of it? Ultimately, I want to learn to place commas correctly for situations like the ones above.
I am confused about what is considered to be in apposition when we are dealing with a quoted content.I think I asked about the placement of commas for the sentences below and Mr. M. said the quoted phrases are in apposition to excuse and question.
To the question, "Is your English getting better?" he answered, "Yes, it is."
However, the excuse, "I am not good at English", is not ...
If those are in apposition to the words stated, then why the sentence below can be said to be in apposition to the word 'expression'?
The expression"I am not good at English" is jsut as correct as "I am not good in English."
What is standard of measurement for something to be said to be in apposition? Is there any tangible measuring stick or 'coloring' test to test validity of it? Ultimately, I want to learn to place commas correctly for situations like the ones above.
Top answer
" The first quote is in apposition-- it is identical to 'the expression'. The second quote is not in apposition-- there is no semantic equal in that clause.
- " The first quote is in apposition-- it is identical to 'the expression'.
- The second quote is not in apposition-- there is no semantic equal in that clause.
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3 Answers
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There are two commas needed in your sentence:
The expression,"I am not good at English", is just as correct as "I am not good in English."
The first quote is in apposition-- it is identical to 'the expression'. The second quote is not in apposition-- there is no semantic equal in that clause.
The expression,"I am not good at English", is just as correct as "I am not good in English."
The first quote is in apposition-- it is identical to 'the expression'. The second quote is not in apposition-- there is no semantic equal in that clause.
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Thank you, Mr. M.
Let me shorten the content a little and wish you would tell me why I normally do not see any commas around the quoted word (I think it is quoted word eventhough it is taken out to make a point, not necessarily to restate what someone said).
The word 'England' is not synonymous with the word 'English' semantically. -- Is it identical to 'the word'
Let me shorten the content a little and wish you would tell me why I normally do not see any commas around the quoted word (I think it is quoted word eventhough it is taken out to make a point, not necessarily to restate what someone said).
The word 'England' is not synonymous with the word 'English' semantically. -- Is it identical to 'the word'
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OK, let's take a step back. If you shorten the content, the 'rule' changes a bit in my eyes . Non-restrictive appositives are normally offset from their referents by commas (John, my youngest brother, is gay). Restrictive appositives do not normally take commas (My brother John is gay), but longer ones-- to my way of thinking-- suffer from lack of clarity if they are not offset. I
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