Apposition

• A noun in apposition is a noun placed next to another noun in order to explain and describe it - the noun in apposition functions like an adjective (it describes the noun it modifies).

 
• The noun in apposition always agrees with the noun it is describing in case, and usually in gender and number also.


Eg.  Catullus, poëta Römänus, fëminam laudat.

"poeta" is the noun in apposition - it agrees with Catullus - both are NSM

• nb: the noun "poëta" is itself modified by the adjective, Römänus, which agrees in gender, number and case with poëta (NSM).
TRANSLATION:  Catullus, a Roman poet, praises the woman.
 
 

The typical word order of Latin sentences follows the following pattern:

1. the subject and its modifiers,
2. the indirect object,
3. the direct object,
4. adverbial words or phrases; and
5. the verb.

This is the style in which the example above is written.

However, there is no "correct" word order for a Latin sentence as there is in English.  The example above could have been written in any one of the following ways and still retain the essential meaning:

Fëminam Catullus poëta Römänus laudat.
Fëminam poëta Römänus Catullus laudat.
Poëta Römänus Catullus laudat fëminam.