CHOOSING NOMINALS

Appositives Appositives may look like adjectivals as they add modifications, but the main difference is: An appositive actually renames the noun phrase! Egs. Tim, the deli manager at Giant Foods, used to own a restaurant. Jack London’s novel The Call of the Wild was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post in the summer of 1903.

The relationship between the appositive and the noun it renames is like the relationship between the two NP positions in Pattern 2 sentences: Something is something E.g. Tim, the deli manager at Giant Foods, used to own a restaurant. Tim is the deli manager at Giant Foods. Jack London’s novel The Call of the Wild was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post in the summer of Jack London’s novel is The Call of the Wild.

How do we use commas for appositives? It is similar to relative clause (restrictive or nonrestrictive). Our friend Blane drives a snazzy red Miata. (restricted: we may have more than one friend) The judge’s husband, Morrie, stays home with the kids. (nonrestricted: judge must have only one husband!)

One important thing to remember: Not all appositives are noun phrases!! E.g. This role for the comma, to shift the peak of stress, is probably one you hadn’t thought about before. Appositives are nominals in function, but verb forms can even be appositives Now go to p. 181 for group discussion

Colon and Dashes with Appositives Colon can be used to connect compound sentences Most of the buildings in the town were high: Some rose to eighty feet. Colon can also be used as a signal for appositives (puts emphasis) I’ll never forget the birthday present my dad bought me when I was ten: a new three-speed bike. This can also be written with a dash (informal colon) I’ll never forget the birthday present my dad bought me when I was ten—a new three-speed bike. If you don’t want to put emphasis, use a comma instead

One of the most common uses of the colon is to signal a list: Three committess were set up to plan the convention: program, finance, and local arrangements. Sometimes the separate structures in the list have internal punctuations of their own. In that case, you need to separate them with semicolons: The study of our grammar system includes three areas: phonology, the study of sounds; morphology, the study of meaningful combinations of sounds; and syntax, the study of sentence structure.

When an appositive series is in the middle of the sentence, we use a pair of dashes to set it off: Three committees—program, finance, and local arrangements—were set up to plan the convention. All three areas of our grammar system—phonology, morphology, and syntax—will be covered in the grammar course. In these sentences, if we had used commas instead of dashes, the reader might have been confused: All three areas of our grammar system, phonology, morphology, and syntax, will be covered in the grammar course.

Avoiding punctuation errors There is a simple rule to follow for the use of the colon with appositives: The colon that introduces an appositive is preceded by a complete independent clause. The colons in the following sentences are INCORRECT because the parts preceding the colon are not full sentences: The committees that were set up to plan the convention are: program, finance, and local arrangements. The three areas of the grammar system are: phonology, morphology, and syntax.

It is possible to use «the following» to avoid such mistakes: The committees that were set up to plan the convention are the following: program, finance, and local arrangements. However, in this sentence the focus is on «the following», so the best version of this sentence can be Three committees were set up to plan the convention: program, finance, and local arrangements. Now go to p. 184 for Exercise 33

Sentence Appositives Instead of simply renaming a noun, sentence appositives offer a conclusion about the sentence as a whole in the form of a noun phrase (very similar to broad reference of which): The musical opened to rave reviews and standing- room-only crowds—a smashing success. A pair of cardinals has set up housekeeping in our pine tree—an unexpected welcome event. In August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast with winds that clocked 150 mph—the worst natural disaster in the nation’s history in over 100 years.

NOMINAL VERB PHRASES Gerunds: Look at this participial phrase Going through airport security, the travelers do not look happy. How is this different from the following sentence? Going through airport security takes the fun out of air travel -ing form as a nominal Going through airport security takes the fun out of air travel IT

Gerunds can fill all the NP positions in the sentence: As subject complement The worst part of the security system is taking off your shoes. As direct object I enjoy jogging early in the morning As object of preposition My biology professor often begins class by telling weird jokes. As appositive My dad’s hobby, collecting stamps, can be time consuming.

The Subject of the Gerund: Subject generally does not appear in gerund: Jogging is good exercise. (who is jogging?) Raising orchids requires patience. (who is raising?) If the subject of the gerund appears, then it is in the possessive case: I objected to their arriving in the middle of the meeting. My objecting didn’t make any difference. There is no point in your coming if you’re going to be so late.

Even if it is a person’s name, it is possessive: I was surprised at Terry’s refusing the job offer. However, if the subject is compound, the possessive is generally not used: I was surprised at Bill and Terry turning down that beautiful apartment. But a more natural way of saying this is as follows: I was surprised when Bill and Terry turned down that beautiful apartment.

Infinitives: Infinitives can also function as nominals (like gerunds) Remaining neutral on this issue is unconscionable. To remain neutral on this isse is unconscionable. Like gerunds, infinitives can function in all NP positions: Direct object My cousin wants to be a farmer Subject complement His ambition is to raise organic vegetables. Appositive My sister achieved her goal: to graduate in three years. Now go to Exercise 34, p. 188

NOMINAL CLAUSES They are the clauses that start with «that» I suspect that our history exam will be tough. The president recently announced that he will ask Congress for tax cuts for the middle class. In these sentences, a complete sentence becomes the object of another sentence. Our history exam will be tough. He will ask Congress for tax cuts for the middle class.

Nominal clauses can also be in the subject position That the common cold is caused by a virus has been clearly established by science. Sometimes we don’t even need «that» (if in object position) I suspect our history exam will be tough. Derek said he would be late. Make sure it doesn’t cause a confusion Last week I suspected my friend Kim, who never goes to class, was getting into academic trouble. The reader might get confused (Is ‘my friend, Kim’ the subject or the object?)

If «that» is in the subject position, it cannot be omitted. The common cold is caused by a virus (that) has been clearly established by science. Nominal clauses can also be used for interrogatives: I wonder why the students are protesting. Who will be at the party remains a mystery. (Unlike ‘that’ interrogatives cannot be omitted) Can also be used as objects of prepositions and appositives: The boy was curious about what was in the box. (Obj of Prep) The students questions, why the summer schedule was changed, has not been answered. (App)

Nominals as delayed subjects: In spoken language nominals as subjects are prefered to be delayed: Instead of saying That the common cold is caused by a virus has been clearly established. We prefer to say It has been clearly established that the common cold is caused by a virus. We do the same for infinitives Instead of saying To remain neutral on this issue is unconscionable. We prefer to say It is unconscionable to remain neutral on this issue. Now, go to exercise 35 on p. 191