Appositives & Appositive Phrases

Appositives & Appositive Phrases The word appose means “to place near or next to.” Appositives are placed next to the nouns or pronouns to which they relate Usually follows the word it identifies, renames, or explains

Appositives & Appositive Phrases Examples: Raymond wrote his history report on the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln Lincoln’s home state, Illinois, is the site of both his first law office and his tomb.

Appositive Phrases An appositive usually includes modifiers When it does, it is called an appositive phrase

Appositive Phrases Examples: During Lincoln’s presidency, the Civil War, a long and costly war, began and ended.

Appositive Phrases Examples: Lincoln wrote the Gettysburg Address, one of history’s most memorable speeches.

Appositive Phrases Examples: The war, the bloodiest in U.S. history, (sometimes includes a prep. Phrase) accomplished Lincoln’s goal of preserving the union.

Appositive Phrases Appositives and appositive phrases can be compounded Example: At Appomattox Court House, the two opposing generals, Lee and Grant, signed the documents that ended the Civil War.

Appositive Phrases Punctuation If an appositive contains essential information to the meaning of a sentence, no punctuation is needed Information is considered essential if it identifies a person, place, or thing Essential: My brother Bill organized a surprise party for my older brother, Tom.

Appositive Phrases Punctuation If an appositive contains nonessential information to the meaning of a sentence, commas should be used to separate it from the rest of the sentence Information is considered nonessential if it can be removed without changing the basic meaning of a sentence Nonessential: John Wilkes Booth, the stage actor, assassinated Lincoln. (Commas are used because the appositive phrase could be removed without changing the meaning of the sentence.)