1. Appositives & Appositive Phrases

2. 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

3. 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.

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

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

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

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

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.)