Sentence Pattern 12
Pattern 12 – An Internal Series of Appositives or Modifiers
(Enclosed by a pair of dashes or parentheses)
S (appositive, appositive, appositive) V
S (modifier, modifier, modifier) V
S – appositive, appositive, appositive – V
S – modifier, modifier, modifier – V
-Modifier – an adjective or adverb that gives additional information
about another word in the sentence. The modifier must follow
immediately follow the word it modifies; if it is placed incorrectly, it
confuses the reader and creates a “dangling” modifier.
-The use of the dash suggests a dramatic interruption of essential
information. The use of the parenthesis suggests that the information is
less important.
Examples
-He learned the necessary qualities for political life – guile, ruthlessness,
and garrulity – by carefully studying his father’s life.
-The basic writing skills (good vocabulary, knowledge of grammar, sense
of style) can be learned by almost everyone.
-On our trip to Italy, the major sights – the Vatican in Rome, the Duomo
in Florence, the tower in Pisa – didn’t impress us as much as the food
and kindness of the people.
Professional Examples
“I was going on to relish more features of this unique scene: such as the
advertisement posters on the walls – here a text from the bible, there a
half-naked girl, here a woman wearing a hat consisting of a hen sitting
on a nest of eggs, and there a pair of girls’ legs walking up the keys of a
cash register – all scribbled over with unknown names and well-known
obscenities…” – Gilbert Highet, “Subway Station”
“Moreover, Jenkin’s briefer warns, it has become harder for the
remaining al-Qaeda leaders to carry out the organization’s most basic
functions: ‘Because of increased intelligence efforts by the United States
and its allies, transactions of any type – communications, travel, money
transfers – have become more dangerous for the jihadists.’ ”
- James Fellows, The Atlantic Monthly, September 2006
Exercise One
Add an internal series of modifiers or appositives to complete each of the
following sentences.
1. Which famous television personality - _______________________________
or __________________________________ or ______________________________do you think will win this year’s Emmy award?
2. Some television programs - ____________________________________ and
_________________________________ and __________________________________
- often help us relax.
Exercise Two
Provide beginnings and endings to go with the following appositives and
modifiers.
1. ____________________________________________________________________
- Spanish or French or Italian - ________________________________________.
2. ____________________________________________________________________
- coordination, agility, speed - _________________________________________.
3. ______________________________________________ - lasagna, and ravioli,
spaghetti and meatballs, spumoni and tortoni - _________________________
_______________________________________________________________________.