2023年5月25日 · Restrictive appositives are essential for specifying the noun or pronoun, while nonrestrictive appositives provide additional, nonessential information. Proper punctuation is crucial in setting off nonrestrictive appositives to clearly indicate that they are separate from the rest of the sentence.

“Fiona’s friend Cat drove her to work.” An appositive that helps specify which of many things or people is being named is called a restrictive appositive because it restricts—or limits—who or what the first noun refers to.

When an appositive is essential for understanding, it is called a restrictive appositive. When it's just removable bonus information, it's called a non-restrictive appositive. Non-restrictive appositives are always offset with commas, dashes or brackets.

But whether an appositive is restrictive, or essential to the sentence, or nonrestrictive, or nonessential, determines whether it is punctuated to set it off from another noun that refers to the same idea — bracketed by a pair of commas (or parentheses or em dashes).

An appositive noun or noun phrase follows another noun or noun phrase in apposition to it; that is, it provides information that further identifies or defines it. Such “bonus facts” are framed by commas unless the appositive is restrictive (i.e., provides essential information about the noun).

2010年8月18日 · The restrictive appositive is “that he was alone.” This phrase renames “the belief,” and, as a noun phrase, it can also serve as the subject (though this will sound awkward to native English speakers).

If an appositive is necessary to understand the identity of the noun or noun phrase that is being modified, the appositive is restrictive. Restrictive appositives are not set off with commas. Mark’s teacher John Smith served in the army. If we removed the appositive, we would understand that Mark’s teacher served in the army. But

A restrictive appositive provides information essential to identifying the phrase in apposition. It limits or clarifies that phrase in some crucial way, such that the meaning of the sentence would change if the appositive were removed.

2023年2月7日 · A restrictive appositive (or essential appositive) adds information that is necessary to identify its antecedent. This kind of appositive can’t be removed without making the sentence unclear or significantly changing its meaning:

A. “Restrictive” appositives cannot be removed from a sentence without obscuring the identity of the word or phrase that the appositive is intended to identify. Take the following two sentences: My cat Philby is fat. [I have two cats.] My cat, Philby, is fat. [I have one cat.]