Is Tom a restrictive appositive in the sentence below? I know it would be a nonrestrictive appositive if it were set off by commas, but I'm not so sure about this sentence.
"Mary's other brother Tom is a barber." (As opposed to her first brother Tom; she has two brothers named Tom.)
Appositive or not?
Moderator: Alan
-
- Member
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2013 7:20 pm
- Status: Learner of English
- Alan
- Teacher/Moderator
- Posts: 15237
- Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 7:56 pm
- Status: Teacher of English
- Location: Japan
Re: Appositive or not?
Technically, yes. In practice, however, even when the intended reference is nonrestrictive, natives tend to omit commas where it is expected that sense/shared knowledge should be sufficient for the addressee to be aware of the fact.
I would, therefore, advise against relying too literally on any such expression!
I would, therefore, advise against relying too literally on any such expression!