Teacher Discussion Forums

Your task, to seek out new civilizations and boldy go where no man has gone before, will probably occupy the rest of your life.

1. Can someone please parse: "to seek out new civilizations and boldy go where no man has gone before"

2. Is "to seek out new civilizations and boldy go where no man has gone before" an appositive phrase with a noun clause nested in it (where no man has gone before)?

Thanks,

Donna

Yes, this sort of phrase is often classified as an appositive, but that would make it a noun phrase, and I think it's really an adjective phrase. It looks like a reduced relative clause to me, "Your task, which is to seek out new civilizations ..."

but it contains an adverb clause, not a noun clause. The same clause would be a noun if it were used as an object, e.g. "He knows where no man has gone before." or it could be an adjective in, "A place where no man has gone before.

Clauses which follow the noun phrase "the fact" are often classified as appositives, "The fact that grammarians disagree with me is irrelevant." I think they are adjectives. You can be confident that there is no question that the "nested"clause is an adverb. Whether the entire verbal phrase is an appositive or an adjective phrase is a matter of opinion.

Thank you!

Donna

I don't really see why it wouldn't be a noun phrase, it seems to function like a gerund. (and is there a rule that appositives must be nouns?)

According to something I just read appositives are substantives that follow other substantives to identify or explain it. And substantives are nouns or noun equivalents, any word, phrase, or clause that functions as a noun in a sentence.