Appositives & Modifiers Reading Check

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 phrase 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.

Tags

CCSS.L.7.1A

CCSS.L.9-10.1B

What is the appositive phrase in the following:

Leonardo da Vinci, the great Renaissance painter, was also an inventor.

• Leonardo da Vinci, the great Renaissance painter,

• , was also an inventor.

• Leonardo da Vinci,

• , the great Renaissance painter,

Tags

CCSS.L.7.1A

CCSS.L.9-10.1B

Essential (mandatory) appositives have no commas and are REQUIRED for the sentence to make sense.

Nonessential (optional) appositives have commas and can be removed from the sentence.

Groups:

(a) Essential Appositives

,

(b) Nonessential Appositives

• My dog Chloe, a Welsh Corgi, was a very good girl.

• We gave our teacher Mr. J our missing ELA homework.

• My wife surprised me by cooking my favorite dinner, ribeye and sweet potatoes.

• My cat Mimi is all black and very fluffy.

Tags

CCSS.L.7.1A

CCSS.L.9-10.1B

Is this an essential appositive or a nonessential appositive?

The Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci drew a flying machine with flapping wings around 1500.

• Essential (or mandatory) appositive

• Nonessential (or optional) appositive

• It is not an appositive

Answer explanation

It is an essential appositive because the reader needs to know which Italian artist you are talking about. It has no commas, and it is essential to the context of the sentence.

Tags

CCSS.L.7.1A

CCSS.L.9-10.1B

Is this an essential appositive or a nonessential appositive?

Leonardo da Vinci, an Italian artist, drew a flying machine with flapping wings around 1500.

• Essential (or mandatory) appositive

• Nonessential (or optional) appositive

• It is not an appositive

Answer explanation

It is a nonessential appositive because the sentence still makes contextual sense without it. It has commas, and adds extra detail by identifying the subject.

Tags

CCSS.L.7.1A

CCSS.L.9-10.1B

What is a modifier?

• A modifier is a phrase that gives more information about or describes another word in a sentence.

• A modifier is something that changes something else

• A modifier is a noun phrase that identifies a word in the sentence

• A modifier is a mod that fies.

Tags

CCSS.RF.3.3B

CCSS.RF.3.3C

CCSS.RF.3.3D

CCSS.RF.4.3A

CCSS.RF.5.3A

Which sentence has the correctly placed modifier and is grammatically correct?

• Wearing only light shirts and shorts, we hiked through the forest.

• We hiked through the forest wearing only light shirts and shorts.

Answer explanation

"Wearing only a light shirt and shorts" is describing WE, not the forest. So this modifying phrase needs to be closest to WE.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C

Which sentence is written correctly?

• Wearing a bright orange suit and floppy yellow shoes, the circus featured a clown.
• The circus featured a clown that was wearing a bright orange suit and floppy shoes. 

Answer explanation

"Wearing a bright orange suit and floppy yellow shoes" applies to the CLOWN not the CIRCUS. So this modifying phrase needs to be closest to CLOWN.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C

Grinning happily, the prize for first place was accepted.

Dangling Modifier = there is nothing for the phrase to modify.

Misplaced Modifier = the modifying phrase is in the wrong spot.

• Dangling Modifier

• Misplaced Modifier

• Correct

Answer explanation

THAT MODIFIER, GRINNING HAPPILY, IS JUST HANGING OUT THERE ALL BY ITSELF AT THE BEGINNING BESIDE THE TOTALLY INCORRECT WORD.

There is nothing for it to describe her so it is just hanging out.

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C

She flew in a small aircraft trembling with fear.

Dangling Modifier = there is nothing for the phrase to modify.

Misplaced Modifier = the modifying phrase is in the wrong spot.

• Dangling Modifier

• Misplaced Modifier

• Correct

Answer explanation

TREMBLING IN FEAR IS IN THE WRONG PLACE.

Have you ever seen a plane tremble?

SHE was TREMBLING IN FEAR ....

Tags

CCSS.L.11-12.3A

CCSS.L.7.1C