Using Commas with Appositives

Identify the appositive:

Gus, Eric's black cat, slowly crept up behind the kittens.

• Gus

• Eric's black cat

• slowly

• behind the kittens

Nonessential appositives are ALWAYS offset by

• quotations

• a colon

• commas

• periods

Which type of appositive requires commas?

• Nonessential

• Essential

Identify the appositive:

Although my sister Loretta disapproves of the on-court temper tantrums, she still thinks Robbie is cute.

• my sister

• Robbie

• on-court temper tantrums

• Loretta

Identify the appositive:

A beautiful German Shepard, Trixie was my favorite dog.

• Trixie

• A beautiful German Shepard

• German Shepard

• was my favorite dog

Identify the appositives: John Kennedy the popular US president was almost an entirely different person than John Kennedy the young naval reservist.

• John Kennedy

• the popular US president

• the young naval reservist

Write your own sentence using a nonessential appositive.

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.

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

• Yes

• No

Choose the appositive in the sentence.
Jada, my sister, is beautiful.

• Jada

• my sister

• beautiful