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Electrum Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Displaced apposition
A device acceptable in some foreign languages that I was taught is not quite right in English goes like this:
Your friend from Springfield who has the new Mercury--I wonder where he is today.
I doubt that you would ever see this is an astronomy text:
Individual stars in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud--even the most sophisticated telescopes cannot distinguish them.
In each of these examples, the leading phrase is merely a displaced apposition of one of the words in the following sentence. I can't see any reason why this should be considered less than 100% acceptable.
Do you have a rule or an opinion?
Your friend from Springfield who has the new Mercury--I wonder where he is today.
I doubt that you would ever see this is an astronomy text:
Individual stars in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud--even the most sophisticated telescopes cannot distinguish them.
In each of these examples, the leading phrase is merely a displaced apposition of one of the words in the following sentence. I can't see any reason why this should be considered less than 100% acceptable.
Do you have a rule or an opinion?
Top answer
Your friend from Springfield who has the new Mercury--I wonder where he is today. You would only hear this sort of thing in very casual conversation. Also these, which are more grammatical.
- Your friend from Springfield who has the new Mercury--I wonder where he is today.
- You would only hear this sort of thing in very casual conversation.
- Also these, which are more grammatical.
- You know that friend of yours from Springfield -- you know, the one who has the new Mercury?
- I wonder where he is today.
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2 Answers
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electrum ...Your friend from Springfield who has the new Mercury--I wonder where he is today.
Individual stars in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud--even the most sophisticated telescopes cannot distinguish them.You would only hear this sort of thing in very casual conversation. Also these, which are more grammatical.
You know that friend of yours from Springfi
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CalifJimThis sort of thing is not really completely unheard of in English,Here's a Hebraism from the Bible that would not be used today:
***--in his way is the storm. (*** is in apposition with the implied he within his)
We would not say:
Bush--in his way is the deception.
How would you rephrase the first one
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