Appositives

Jerry Singh and Jeff Seo

The Basics

Appositives can be either nouns or pronouns or noun phrases

Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years.

The Basics

They can be placed beside another noun or pronoun to identify or describe it

Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years.

The Basics

They give us extra information about the noun or pronoun

Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years. Without the appositive the sentence would be “ Queen Victoria ruled for sixty-three years” With the appositive the reader is able to learn that not only did Queen Victoria rule for sixty-three years she was also seen as one of England’s greatest monarchs.

Keep in Mind!

The appositive is never made up of relative pronouns such as who, whom, which, whoever, whomever, whichever, and that.

The appositive is always a noun, noun phrase or pronoun

Lets Break it Down

During our Lang class Jeff, the coolest kid in the world, made the funniest jokes.

Here we go!

In this example, Jeff is the noun while the noun phrase “the coolest kid in the world” is the appositive

The phrase modifies Jeff and adds extra information about said noun

Now It’s Your Turn

As soon as I entered the house Rob, the big meaty grey bulldog, attacked me.

Find the appositive!

Check Your Answer

The answer is…..“the big meaty grey bulldog”

This is because this phrase describes Rob

One More!

The bird, a giant blue and red dodo, ate all of my kids.

Find the appositive!

Moment of Truth!

The appositive is… a giant blue and red dodo.

This phrase give further description of the noun (bird).

Learn More About Appositives

When appositives are surrounded by commas, they don’t really need to be there, they can be removed as they are non-essential clauses.

Ex: The dog, Guillermo, ran through the woods.

In this example, “Guillermo” is not an essential part of the whole sentence because it is just an extra detail.

Learn More About Appositives

When appositives are NOT surrounded by commas, they MUST be there.

Ex: The book Glass Castle was Jeff’s favorite.

In this example, “Glass Castle” is the appositive and is essential. If we remove the appositive we get: The book was Jeff’s favorite. The sentence has ambiguity and therefore it needs the appositive.

What is the effect of an appositive?

Appositives emphasize and describe the subject of the sentence

Appositives allow the author to use more complex and descriptive language

It avoids choppiness and caries key terms in the sentence.

More Practice

Find the appositives in the sentences

The bookshelf, a modern piece of furniture, was moved into the house first.

The insect, a large and hairy creature, scared the children as they walked outside.An enormous man with great strength, Henry was able to carry the entire bag of bricks by himself.

An enormous man with great strength, Henry was able to carry the entire bag of bricks by himself.

But Wait!

Appositives are also used to combine sentences

This allows writers to eliminate any unnecessary words and make their writing more concise.

For ExampleAlan got lost during the hike. He is a former Eagle Scout.

In this example these are two independent clauses. These sentences can be combined to create more concise writing.

When combined it could be “Alan, a formal Eagle Scout, got lost during the hike.”

Practice Time!

Combine the sentences using an appositive

Johnson is a democrat. Johnson is running for mayor.

Answer!

The answer is….

Johnson, a democrat, is running for mayor.

WORKSHEET TIME!