1. Definition

A word, group of words or clause that follows a noun or pronoun and means the same person or thing as the noun or pronoun does is called an apposition.

E.g.

The student, Wang Wei, was praised by our teacher yesterday.  

This is Mr. Wang, dean of our school.  

The news that the criminal was arrested was not true . 

II. Kinds of Appositions

1) loose apposition 

   It is often set off from the head word by a comma. 

2) close apposition

   The apposition and its head-word form a close relation, not separated by a comma.

E.g.

We love our country,  the great People’s Republic of China.

Do you know the famous critic Paul Jones? 

The position of the apposition

An apposition is usually placed immediately after the head-word, but it may also be put elsewhere in the sentence, especially in the case of pronouns like all, both, each, myself, etc.

E.g.

An unusual present was given to him for his birthday, a book on ethics.

Give them an apple each.

They are all/both students.

He finished it himself. 

Note

Besides nouns and pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, predicate verbs, prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases, clauses, etc. May occasionally be followed by an apposition.

She always speaks so---slowly and clearly.

He is taller, much taller than she is.

To go shopping, to help her sister, to do some cleaning--- to do all this, she has to make the best of her time.

Indicator as the appositive

有时为了明晰地表示非限制性同位关系,我们会使用一些词语插入同位成分之间。  

 A) 表示等同关系的词语有: namely，that is，that is to say，in other words，or, etc.

You should have consulted an ophthalmologist, that is an eye doctor.

He studies linguistics, or the science of language. 

B) 表示举例或列举的词语有：

   for example，for instance，e.g.，such as, say，including, etc.

They visited several cities, for example Rome and Athens.

Nouns such as book, pen, apple and toy are countable nouns. 

C)表示突出某点的词语有：

  especially，particularly，in particular，notably, chiefly，mainly, mostly。

 We want to invite a number of friends, especially Joan and Betty. 

 Most students in our class, particularly David and Chris, are fond of music.

 这些词语在使用中有的可以放在第二个同位成分之前或之后：

 that is，that is to say，for example，for instance，in particular和in other words。 

Dickens's most productive period, that is (to say) the 1840s, was a time when public demand for fiction was growing at a tremendous rate. 

Dickens's most productive period, the 1840s, that is (to say), was a time when public demand for fiction was growing at a tremendous rate. 

included 只能放在第二个同位成分之后。其他的词语以及一些缩写形式只能放在第二个同位成分之前：

namely，or，including，such as，say，especially，particularly，notably, chiefly，mainly，mostly， e.g., etc.

Many people, including my sister, won't forgive him for that.

Many people, my sister included, won't forgive him for that. 

III. The appositive clause

Some words, such as appeal，belief, idea, decision, truth, conclusion，  report, message, promise, proposal， remark, question, thought， statement， understanding，etc. to show the details.

The thought came to her that maybe she had left the door open when she left home.  

The story goes that he failed in the College Entrance Examinations again.

The distinction between the apposition and the attribute

The apposition gives another name which often defines or explains it.

An apposition is in the same case as the noun or pronoun it refers to.

It may be expressed by a noun, a pronoun, or a numeral, etc.

An attribute is to modify the noun or pronoun.

“that” in the attributive clause has a grammar function, as a part in the clause, while in the appositive clause it is just a conjunction.

IV. Read through the grammar and usage

• Read through the apposition

• Deal with Part A on page 41

• Deal with part B on page 42

V. Reinforcement

1. Information has been put forward ____ more middle school graduates will be admitted into universities 

    A. while    B. that     C. when    D. as    

应将该句区别于：

It is said that more middle school graduates will be admitted into universities，this is the information ____ has been put forward. 

   A. what       B. that    C. when    D. as 

She heard a terrible noise,____ brought her heart into her mouth  

    A. it      B. which     C. this     D. that 

应将该句区别于：

I can't stand the terrible noise ____ she is crying loudly. 

    A. it      B. which     C. this      D. that 

VI. Exercises

1. Translation:

1. His only interest in life, playing football, has brought him many friends.

2. He always works hard in spite of the fact that he is not in good health. 

3. Land, brains, wealth, technology - in other words everything we need - are plentiful in our country.

2. Multiple choice:

1. The fact ____ she works hard is well known to us all. 

   A. that     B. what C. why  D. which 

2. I have no idea ____ he will start. 

  A. when   B. that   C. what D./ 

3. He often asked me the question ____ the work was worth doing. 

  A. whether B. where C. that D. when