Crystal W wrote:In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced the greatest translation in any language.

This is the right sentence and my question is about the appositive clause. I believe a work refers the noun phrase his translation of the Iliad and then that clause is an appositive clause of a work. Am I correct?

Also, why cannot I use "In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced[/u] the greatest translation in any language."?

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Crystal W wrote:In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad, a work that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced the greatest translation in any language.

This is the right sentence and my question is about the appositive clause. I believe a work refers the noun phrase his translation of the Iliad and then that clause is an appositive clause of a work. Am I correct?

Here, a work is an apposition to his translation of the Iliad, and the that-clause in red serves to modify a work.

Also, why cannot I use "In 1713, Alexander Pope began his translation of the Iliad that took him seven years to complete and that literary critic Samuel Johnson, Pope's contemporary, pronounced[/u] the greatest translation in any language."?

Here, the that-clause in red serves to modify his translation, implying that Alexander Pope completed MORE THAN ONE translation of the Iliad -- his translation that took him five years to complete, his translation that took him six years to complete, his translation that took him seven years to complete -- and that the sentence is referring to only ONE of these translations:
his translation THAT TOOK HIM SEVEN YEARS TO COMPLETE.
Not the intended meaning.