Appositive

Question

Hi.May I rewrite:"Typical treatment, which focuses on only one domain of risk factors, is inadequate."as"Typical treatment(which focuses on only one domain of risk factors) is inadequate."?

BillJ · Accepted Answer

Yes, but the 'which' clause is relative, not appositive.

BillJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks, so can you place anything between  two commas in a pair of parantheses?

BillJ · Answer

AnonymousThanks, so can you place anything between two commas in a pair of parantheses?

Yes, as a general rule, anything that's not essential to the understanding of the sentence can be separated off from the main part of the sentence by parentheses (or dashes) instead of commas. Here are some more:

1) "The murderer, the man with a scar, was arrested". ~ "The murderer (the man with a scar) was arrested".
2) "The editor, angry at the delay, resigned from the project". ~ "The editor (angry at the delay) resigned from the project".
3) "The excuse he gave, that the train was late, was accepted". ~ "The excuse he gave (that the train was late) was accepted".
4) "The Dean, as you know, is opposed to the proposal". ~ "The Dean (as you know) is opposed to the proposal".

1) an appositive noun phrase.
2) an adjective phrase modifying a noun.
3) a content clause.
4) a preposition phrase.

Parentheses (and dashes) are stronger punctuation marks than commas, so a little bit of care is required when deciding which to use. In 2) for example, commas would probably be preferable.

BillJ

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