Adjunct
"To read that EU officials have made the same mistake is at best insensitive, if not breathtakingly incompetent."
(The Guardian.)
Is if not breathtakingly incompetent an appositional adjunct in the sentence above?
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I think it is.
Top answer
No: adjuncts are modifiers in clause structure, whereas appositives are specifying noun phrases that function as modifiers in NP structure, or as supplements. We went to see [ the opera ' Carmen ' ]. [appositive NP as modifier] Bizet's most famous opera, Carmen , was first performed in 1875 .
- No: adjuncts are modifiers in clause structure, whereas appositives are specifying noun phrases that function as modifiers in NP structure, or as supplements.
- We went to see [ the opera ' Carmen ' ].
- [appositive NP as modifier] Bizet's most famous opera, Carmen , was first performed in 1875 .
- [appositive NP as supplement] We very much enjoyed the opera.
- [adjunct] Your example sentence seems odd, since one doesn't describe "reading something" as insensitive.
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No: adjuncts are modifiers in clause structure, whereas appositives are specifying noun phrases that function as modifiers in NP structure, or as supplements.
We went to see [the opera 'Carmen']. [appositive NP as modifier]
Bizet's most famous opera, Carmen, was first performed in 1875. [appositive NP as supplement]
We very muc
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