英語的同位語

同位語是一個名詞或代詞，在另一個名詞或代詞的旁邊用於解釋或識別這個物件。下面是一些例子：

Your

friend

Bill

is in trouble。

My brother‘s

car

，

a sporty red convertible with bucket seats

， is the envy of my friends

Timothy

，

their youngest child

， is very musical。

The American author

Ernest Hemingway

spent many years abroad。

上面四個句子中的主語用的藍色字型，補充說明它們的紅色單詞就是同位語。

在語法上，同位語可以是一個單詞，一個短語或者是一個從句來說明另一個單詞。 名詞從句也可以起同位語的功能。例如：

I think the

solution

，

that he hired a replacement，

was the best course of action at the time。

The problem

，

that you did not pick up the packages，

delays the entire product schedule。

The answer from the company

，

that we buy a new table

， angers me。

My decision

，

for you to leave the day after us

， stands。

His choice

， f

or her to bring the kids the week after

， seems logical。

Your idea，

for Olive to make more pickles，

appears ill-conceived。

判斷是否是同位語從句，就看將其去掉是否影響整個句子的意思。下面這個句子that 引導的句子非常像evidence的同位語，但

that smoking can lead to many diseases仍然是個定語從句，用來限定evidence。

Modern science has given clear evidence

that smoking can lead to many diseases.

而同位語是可以去掉，不影響主句的使用。

Lucy and Lily，

who are twins

， are strong swimmers。

這裡who are twins是同位語，去掉不影響主句。

由此可見同位語從句是非必須的，不像定語從句去掉影響表達。注意同位語從句前後有兩個逗號，這一點有點像非限定性定語從句，但它還是與其有差別的，看下列例句：

Their mother，

who never learned to swim herself

， had them take swimming lessons when they were young。

這裡劃線部分是非限定性定語從句。

閱讀下列同位語的例句，都是說明入侵者intruder是個蟑螂，從單詞到片語，最後到同位語。

The intruder，

a cockroach

， is crawling across the kitchen table。

The intruder，

a large, inquisitive cockroach

， is crawling across the kitchen table。

The intruder，

a large, inquisitive cockroach with hairy legs

， is crawling across the kitchen table。

The intruder，

a large, inquisitive, hairy-legged cockroach that has spied my bowl of oatmeal

， is crawling across the kitchen table。