Appositive Phrase

​What Is an Appositive?

An APPOSITIVE is a noun that immediately follows and RENAMES ANOTHER NOUN in order to clarify it. Appositives are used to reduce wordiness and add details to a sentence.

You can combine two simple sentences to create one sentence that contains an appositive.

Example:

 

o   Simple Sentence: My teacher is a tough grader.

o   Simple Sentence: Mrs. Green is a tough grader.

o   Sentence with an Appositive: My teacher Mrs. Green is a tough grader.

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

Emily's oldest dog, Puff, is a poodle.

• dog

• oldest

• Puff

• poodle

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

The largest city in Washington, Seattle, gets a lot of rain.

• city

• Washington

• Seattle

• rain

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

My favorite aunt, Sylvia, is going to get me a job working in her store.

• AUNT

• SYLVIA

• JOB

• STORE

How Can I Identify Appositives?

Appositives often immediately follow a noun; appositives always help to identify the noun.

Example:

Ø Ms. Wood, Sally’s teacher, assigned a research project.

Ø Ms. Wood, Sally’s fifth-grade teacher, assigned a research project.

Ø Ms. Wood, Sally’s favorite teacher in the school, assigned a research project.

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

Joe and Christine, our neighbors, are going to Disneyland tomorrow.

• Joe , Christine

• our neighbors

• Disneyland

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

The florist shop Blooms and More has daisies, her favorite flower, on sale.

• SHOP

• BLOOMS AND MORE

• DAISIES

• HER FAVORITE FLOWER

Multiple Choice

FIND THE APPOSITIVE:

Seattle, the largest city in Washington, gets a lot of rain.

• SEATTLE

• CITY

• THE LARGEST CITY IN WASHINGTON

• WASHINGTON

How Do I Test for Appositives?

​To test to see if an appositive is needed, replace the appositive with the noun being modified. The sentence should make sense if you substitute the appositive for the noun or noun phrase.

 

Example:

Ms. Wood, Sally’s favorite teacher in the school, is friendly and

approachable.

Sally’s favorite teacher in the school is friendly and approachable.

Poll

A famous Englishman, William Shakespeare, wrote plays like “Romeo and Juliet.”

THE APPOSITIVE 'William Shakespeare' CAN REPLACE THE NOUN IT RENAMES 'A famous Englishman'.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Poll

Grandma made peach cobbler, her specialty, for dessert.

THE APPOSITIVE 'her specialty' CAN REPLACE THE NOUN IT RENAMES 'peach cobbler'.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Poll

He took the most difficult math class, Advanced Calculus, during the summer.

THE APPOSITIVE 'Advanced Calculus' CAN REPLACE THE NOUN IT RENAMES 'math class'.

• true

• false

How Do I Punctuate Appositive?

If an appositive is necessary to understand the identity of the noun or noun phrase that is being modified, the appositives are not set off with commas.

Example:

Mark’s teacher John Smith served in the army.

If we removed the appositive, we would understand that Mark’s teacher served in the army. But the sentence loses clarity. Without the appositive, we are unsure which of Mark’s teachers is being referred to.

How Do I Punctuate Appositive?

If an appositive is unnecessary to understand the identity of the noun or noun phrase it is set off with commas.

Example:

Fred’s biology teacher, Ted Jones, served in the navy.

If we removed the appositive, we would still understand that Fred’s biology teacher served in the navy. Although the appositive adds detail to the sentence, the audience already understands which specific teacher is being referred to; including the name is unnecessary.

Open Ended

Rewrite the sentence if it needs commas to separate the positive:

One of his favorite baseball players Barry Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants.

Open Ended

The Lincoln Memorial a beautiful structure is located near the Washington Monument.

Open Ended

Rewrite the sentence if it needs commas to separate the positive:

President Obama the popular US president usually presents eloquent speeches.