Appositives and Split Infinitives

   Appositives are nouns, or nouns and their modifiers, that rename or describe other nouns. Like adjectives, appositives relate to nouns, but, unlike adjectives, they can substitute for the nouns they relate to.

  • Dr. Mark Miller, my dissertation advisor, told me to stay in school.
  • Aronna, my sister, is Macy's mother.
  • The book, a thrilling read, is on the mantle.
   It is INCORRECT to have multiple commas in appositives. It is very confusing to the reader, e.g.
  • A local kindergarten teacher, Sarah Bernell, 63, has ...
  • Truck driver Jeff Johnson, 45, of Alberta City, received ...
   Instead, write as such
  • Sarah Bernell, a 63-year-old kindergarten teacher, has ...
  • Jeff Johnson, a 45-year-old Alberta City truck driver, received ...
   OR
  • Sarah Bernell, 63, has ...
  • Jeff Johnson, 45, received ...
   You can bring in the other relevant facts later.

Split Infinitives

   Infinitives are the plain form of a verb in combination with the infinitive marker to. Split infinitives occur when there is an interruption of the infinitive and its marker by an adverb.
  • To boldly go where no man has gone before.
   We regularly insert single-word adverbs in an infinitive without causing awkwardness (see previous example). But when longer word groups interrupt verb phrases, the result is almost always awkward.
  • Many students had, by spending most of their time on the assignment, completed it.
   Fix the problem as shown below:
  • By spending most of their time on the assignment, many students had completed it.

  • Many students had completed the assignment by spending most of their time on it.

If you don't understand something in this Web note, please e-mail Dr. Sitton.

İRonald W. Sitton 2009
Revised 062609  — http://www.uamont.edu/FacultyWeb/sitton/appoz.html