Appositives

An appositive is a word that follows a . . .

• noun

• adjective

• pronoun

• preposition

Place the comma(s) where they belong:

A man with a generous heart Mr. Baldwin donated the money.

Place the comma(s) where they belong:

San Diego a beautiful city in Southern California is a popular place to visit.

Place the comma(s) where they belong:

Joey made a fingerpainting his favorite kind of art.

Place the comma(s) where they belong:

Our class learned how to use a protractor a tool for measuring angles.

Place the comma(s) where they belong:

Anthony's brother John knows how to play the trombone.

Which sentence below is correctly punctuated?

• My sister, the tall one, is about to enter high school.
• My sister the tall one is about to enter high school.
• My sister, the tall one is about to enter high school.
• My sister the tall one, is about to enter high school.

Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

• We decided to eat at Olive Garden my favorite restaurant.
• We decided to eat at, Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant.
• We decided to eat at Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant.
• We decided, to eat, at Olive Garden my favorite restaurant.

An appositive can be set apart by 1 or 2 commas.

• Yes
• No

Appositives are special because they can be deleted from a sentence without changing the sentence's meaning. What could be deleted from the sentence below?

My niece, Eleanor, is a big fan of unicorns.

• My niece

• Eleanor

• is a big fan of

• unicorns

Answer explanation

The only word you can delete without changing the meaning of the sentence is "Eleanor." We don't need to know her name to understand the sentence.

My niece is a big fan of unicorns.