Appositives as open secret to more engaging writing

The problem with most bad writing is that it’s often so general and lacking in or things talked about seem to exist only in telling details to give meat and substance to took the day off yesterday.” “Her husband, the jealous type, took her on an extended out-of-town trip.” “They rode on my friend’s car, a battered 1995 sedan, to a hillside farm in Batangas.” “A positively enchanting singer, Elvira has many admirers at the club where she performs.” Note that an appositive may come either after or before the important is not to detach it from that noun or pronoun.

An appositive phrase is an appos that come with it: “Mayon Volcano, a major Philippine tourist attraction because of its majestic near-perfect cone, has been spewing moderate fountains of lava for almost two months now. Rising 2,462 meters from the Albay Gulf shoreline in southeastern Luzon, Mayon is known to have erupted over 50 times in the past 500 years.”

In the first sentence above, the proper noun “Mayon Volcano” is “a major Philippine tourist attraction because of its majestic near-perfect cone”; in the second, by the appositive phrase “rising 2,462 meters from the Albay Gulf shoreline in southeastern Luzon.” The two appositive phrases supply much more telling details than their equivalent simple appositives (“tourist attraction” and “2,462 high”), giving more texture and depth to the statements.

By now it should be clear that an appositive or appositive phrase may either be essential or nonessential to a sentence. It is essential or restrictive when it narrows the meaning of the maintain the meaning of the sentence. As such, it is usually a single word or a set of words closely related to the preceding word, and does not require commas to set it off from the rest of the sentence, as in “The American actress Meryl Streep has been hailed

On the other hand, an appositive is nonessential or nonrestrictivewhen not absolutely necessary to the meaning of a sentence. It can then be omitted without altering that meaning, like the appositive phrase “a colorful religious festival” in “The

a colorful religious festival, is regularly held in many Philippine towns during the month of May.” The same can be done to the appositive phrase “usually the coldest month in tropical Philippines” in this sentence: “December, usually the coldest month in tropical Philippines, is becoming more popular than June as the wedding month of choice.”

In both sentences, the appositive phrases can be dropped and readers won’t even know or notice that they

(Next week:

The dangers of overstating yourself)