Let’s examine following two sentences. 1. We went to Goa, which is worth visiting during the Carnival, for 4 days to enjoy the festival. 2. We went to Goa for 4 days to enjoy the Carnival, a place that is worth visiting during this festival time. In sentence 1, the relative clause is embedded within the main matrix clause whereas in sentence 2, this clause becomes a complement of the noun ‘the place’ which is placed after the main clause and therefore no longer part of the main clause. In order to ensure that the information is about Goa, an appositive of Goa - ‘a place’ has to be introduced. There is no doubt that sentence 2 is more neat and elegant, and less clumsy. This section is about the flexibility allowed by an appositive to post-modify any part of a clause, particularly a noun phrase or even the clause itself, since otherwise post-modifier is supposed to modify only the noun directly preceding it. An appositive answers 'what/ who is /are'. Example: ‘My father-in-law, a renowned surgeon, has been empanelled in the prestigious committee of health advisors affiliated to the ministry of health.’ This sentence can make perfect sense even without 'a renowned surgeon' which provides an extra/ additional information about the noun 'father-in-law' by describing who or what he is. Thus 'a renowned surgeon' is an appositive.
Clause + Appositive + that clause as Complement
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