Noun Phrase Appositives By: Randy Harris

What is meant by a noun phrase? A noun phrase is a phrase that begins with a noun or any part of speech that modifies a noun (like an adjective). It does not have to be the subject of a sentence.

Noun Phrase Example “I met the tour guide, a notorious addict, near the waterfront.” *Here, “a notorious addict” , “The tour guide” (which is the subject of the sentence) and “the waterfront” are all noun phrases in this sentence.

What is meant by Appositive? Literally, the word appositive means to place one thing beside another. * In grammar, an appositive refers to a word or phrase containing a noun that renames the noun it modifies.

Appositive Example… “The cab driver opened the door for his passenger, a tall woman in a long grey dress.”

Explaining Appositive Example Woman is the noun. -making it clear to the reader who the passenger is. “Tall” and “ in a long grey dress” are the modifiers -these words rename the passenger in a specific way.

Why are noun phrase appositives important? They are useful when combining sentences. Often, early drafts of essays are bloated with unnecessary words, sometimes even entire sentences. For Example … “My brother is a man without a wife. He enjoys a life of loneliness.” While there is nothing wrong with these sentences, they can be combined to form one sentence that conveys the same information with fewer words: “My brother, a man without a wife, enjoys a life of loneliness.”

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