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 Example Alan 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!