GRAMMAR! INTERRUPTERS AND APPOSITIVES

RECOGNIZE AN INTERRUPTER WHEN YOU SEE ONE. An interrupter is a word, phrase, or clause that significantly breaks the flow of a sentence. Interrupters are used for emphasis, to indicate a switch in tone, to qualify a subject, or as a side note. The interrupter does not affect the meaning of the sentence, it just interrupts the flow of the sentence.

FOR EXAMPLE… My essay, to be honest, flew out the school bus window. (For emphasis). The Jonas Brothers wanted to continue with their tour. The promoters, however, had a different plan in mind. (To indicate switch in tone). Some pop stars, Miley Cyrus for example, will end up on reality television. (To qualify a subject). iOS7, surprisingly, is not as good as iOs6. (As a sidenote).

SHOULD I, FOR EXAMPLE, PUT A COMMA HERE? Remember, anything that appears to “interrupt” or show contrast somewhere in the sentence should be set off with commas. Carefully punctuate the following examples:

EXAMPLES No she did not attend classes the last month.

EXAMPLES She did however find time to go to Cancun.

EXAMPLES I did in fact fail her for excessive absences.

EXAMPLES The policy was spelled out in the syllabus wasn’t it?

APPOSITIVES An appositive comes directly after a noun and renames it. Example: My favorite restaurant, The Ground Round, just opened in Boston. We use commas around appositive and interrupters to tell our readers that these elements provide extra information but are NOT essential to the meaning of a sentence. In the previous example we don’t have to know that the speaker’s favorite restaurant is the Ground Round in order to understand that a restaurant that happens to be her favorite just opened in Boston.

APPOSITIVE Sometimes an appositive is essential to the meaning of the sentence. When the meaning of the sentence would not be the same without the appositive, it should NOT be offset with commas. “The actor John Travolta has never won an academy award. The clothing store JCrew has been bought out by another company. (Don’t gasp, this is not true.)

HOW WILL I KNOW? The best way to decide whether or not to use a word, phrase, or clause as an interrupter is to ask whether it merits emphasis or is important enough to be singled out. Remember, essential information is COMMA-FREE. Information that is essential to the meaning of the sentence should not be set off with commas. This includes information that is critical to maintain the integrity of the idea expressed.

ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS EXAMPLES The students who come late to class are inconsiderate. (Not all students are inconsiderate, just the ones who are late.) People who enjoy going to the zoo are usually animal lovers. (Not all people are usually animal lovers, just those who enjoy going to the zoo.)

ESSENTIAL OR NON-ESSENTIAL? The dog who is limping needs to go to the vet. Essential! Not ALL dogs have to go to the vet, just the limping one. The paper with writing on one side should be used as scrap paper rather than be thrown out. Essential! THAT specific type of paper is what is getting repurposed. Not all paper.

ESSENTIAL OR NON-ESSENTIAL? The family selected a dog breed Labrador retriever that is good with children. Non-Essential Should read: The family selected a dog breed, Labrador retriever, that is good with children. Why? The sentence is communicating that the family is picking a dog breed that is good with kids. That’s what matters. Which breed? Doesn’t matter so much for the overall point of demonstrating their responsible parenting.

ESSENTIAL OR NON-ESSENTIAL? I went shopping this weekend and had to visit many stores Athleta, Lululemon and Dick’s Sporting Goods to finally find the type of jacket I was looking for. Non-Essential Should read: I went shopping this weekend and had to visit many stores, Athleta, Lululemon and Dick’s Sporting Goods, to finally find the type of jacket I was looking for. Do you need to know the names of the many stores I visited? No! I just want you to know that it took a while to find what I was looking for.