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Robrebry Posted 21 years ago
Grammar

Do noun phrases functioning as appositives constitute a complex sentence?

My brother, an excellent ice skater, rollerblades all summer long to keep his edge.
  

Top answer

Robrebry, Welcome to English Forums! No. A phrase does not normally constitute a sentence of any kind, no matter how it functions.

  • Robrebry, Welcome to English Forums!
  • No.
  • A phrase does not normally constitute a sentence of any kind, no matter how it functions.
  • A phrase is a unit less than a sentence.
  • The appositive "an excellent ice skater" may be thought of as a noun phrase created by "whiz" deletion ("who is an excellent ice skater") from an embedded subordinate clause, of course.
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1 Answers
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Robrebry,

Welcome to English Forums!

No. A phrase does not normally constitute a sentence of any kind, no matter how it functions. A phrase is a unit less than a sentence.
The appositive "an excellent ice skater" may be thought of as a noun phrase created by "whiz" deletion ("who is an excellent ice skater") from an embedded subordinate clause, of course. But ev

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