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Eipjoo Posted 14 years ago
Grammar

Is this apposition?

Given the example:

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye).

I guess ‘something’ has the same role as the ‘which.’ However it’s not a relative pronoun, then, can we say that ‘something’ is in apposition with ‘to start making objects fly’?
  

Top answer

" is a noun phrase As you say, there's no word to link them - we are to assume they are linked only because one comes straight after the other. " Dave

  • " is a noun phrase As you say, there's no word to link them - we are to assume they are linked only because one comes straight after the other.
  • " Dave
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1 Answers
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Hi

I'm willing to be corrected but I'd say, yes, that is apposition

"...making objects fly..." is a gerund, which is a kind of noun phrase

"..something they had all been dying to try..." is a noun phrase

As you say, there's no word to link them - we are to assume they are linked only because one comes straight after the other. So the second is a further definit

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