0
Mehdi kord Posted 5 years ago
Grammar

Appositive vs. Absolute phrase

What kind of phrase is the bold part? Appositive or Absolute ....

For its spring collection, the retailer offered off the series of new designs, the most popular of them a silk trench coat.
  

Top answer

mehdi kord the most popular of them a silk trench coat I would call it a verbless clause where the linking verb "was" is understood.

  • mehdi kord the most popular of them a silk trench coat I would call it a verbless clause where the linking verb "was" is understood.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

3 Answers
0
mehdi kordthe most popular of them a silk trench coat

I would call it a verbless clause where the linking verb "was" is understood.

0

I would call it a "small clause". It modifies "designs".

It's a variant of the relative clause: designs, the most popular of which was a silk trench coat.

CJ

By the way, the definitions of 'appositive', and especially 'absolute', are not standardized in the literature of grammar, so much of the answer depends on which grammar books you consider the authorities

0
mehdi kordWhat kind of phrase is the bold part?

I resist forming explanations that depend on inserting a supposed omission. The phrase stands on its own with no extra words needed. "To be" is not omitted or understood but is built into the structure, in my view. Your phrase quacks like an absolute, but that is just a label.

I'm more concerned with the

Related Questions