Appositives Practice

Identify the appositive or appositive phrase in the following sentence:

Charles Dickens, the author of A Christmas Carol, once worked in a shoe polish factory.

What is an appositive?

• An appositive shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.

• An appositive is a noun or pronoun that identifies or renames another noun or pronoun.

• An appositive modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.

• An appositive is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun.

Identify the appositive phrase:

Author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson was extremely well-educated for his time.

• Author of the Declaration of Independence

• the Declaration of Independence

• Thomas Jefferson

• well-educated for his time

Identify the appositive phrase:

A popular US president, John F. Kennedy was known for his eloquent and inspirational speeches.

• A popular US president

• US president

• John F. Kennedy

• eloquent and inspirational speeches

What do appositives do for our writing?

• They don't do anything important.

• They aren't necessary, but they give more information and make our writing sound better.

• They provide too much extra information.

• We shouldn't use appositives in our writing.

My dog, Archie, likes to go on walks.

Which one is the appositive?

• My dog

• Archie

• walks

• likes

What kinds of words can appositives identify or explain?

• Nouns

• Adjectives

• Verbs

• Anything

Appositives are located...

• before the noun it describes.

• after the noun it describes.

• in a different sentence.

Identify the appositive phrase:

Have you read anything by Laurie Halse Anderson, the woman who wrote Chains and Fever?

• by Laurie Halse Anderson

• the woman

• the woman who wrote Chains and Fever

• anything by Laurie Halse Anderson

Find the appositive:
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, two American astronauts, first walked on the moon on July 20, 1969.

• Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

• first walked on the moon

• two American astronauts

• on July 20, 1969