4. A substantive used as an exclamation is called an exclamatory nominative (or nominative of exclamation).
- Peace, be still.
- Fortunate Ruth!
- A drum! a drum! Macbeth doth come.
- Look! a balloon!
- The sun! then we shall have a fine day.
Certain exclamatory nominatives are sometimes classed as interjections ([§ 375]).
5. A substantive added to another substantive to explain it and signifying the same person or thing, is called an appositive and is said to be in apposition.
An appositive is in the same case as the substantive which it limits.
Hence a substantive in apposition with a nominative is in the nominative case.
- Mr. Scott, the grocer, is here. [Apposition with subject.]
- Tom, old fellow, I am glad to see you. [Apposition with vocative.]
- The discoverer of the Pacific was Balboa, a Spaniard. [Apposition with predicate nominative.]
Note. Apposition means “attachment”; appositive means “attached noun or pronoun.” An appositive modifies the noun with which it is in apposition much as an adjective might do (compare “Balboa, a Spaniard” with “Spanish Balboa”). Hence it is classed as an adjective modifier.
Possessive Case
89. The possessive case denotes ownership or possession.