The Appositive

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that tells you something about a nearby noun or pronoun Ex. My friend Ethan works at a bookstore after school. (The appositive Ethan identifies the noun friend.)

Appositive phrase is made up of the appositive plus any words that modify the appositive. Ex. He is saving money to travel to Bogota, the capital of Colombia. The appositive phrase the capital of Columbia identifies Bogota.

My sister Jodi works at the hospital. The appositive Jodi identifies the noun sister.

She works with Dr. Martin, an award-winning pediatrician. The appositive phrase an award-winning pediatrician identifies Dr. Martin.

Use commas to set off any appositive or appositive phrase that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence EX. Jodis coworker Emma has five children. The appositive Emma is essential because Jodi has more than one coworker.

Emmas husband, Phil, is a carpenter. The appositive Phil is not essential because Emma has only one husband!

Punctuation of appositives 1. Use one or two commas. Ex. The principal of Sarasota High School in 1997 was Daniel Kennedy, a wiry fifty-nine- year-old who has a stern buzz cut. Ex. Kennedy, a wiry fifty-nine-year-old who has a stern buzz cut, was in 1997 the principal of Sarasota High School.

Punctuation 2. Use one or two dashes. EX. In 1981, two professors began following the lives of eighty-one high-school valedictoriansforty-six women and thirty- five men from Illinois. EX. Japanese people have to make many of the big decisions of their liveswhom to marry, what company to joinwithout detailed information.

Punctuation 3. You can use a colon. EX. We were given plenty of instruction about the specifics of writing: word choice, description, style.

Punctuation tips Dashes emphasize the appositive more than commas do. If the appositive contains its own internal commas, then using the dash or the colon can make it easier to read the complete sentence.

An appositive can clarify a term by providing a proper noun or a synonym for the term EX. Its hero is Scouts father, the saintly Atticus Finch. EX....an automaton, a machine, can be made to keep a school so.

by defining or explaining the term,....what we have since learned to recognize as a survivor memoir – a first-person narrative of victimization and recovery....teenagers might enjoy the transformative science-fiction aspects of The Metamorphosis, a story about a young man so alienated from his dysfunctional family that he turns...into a giant beetle.

An appositive can smooth choppy writing. BEFORE--Its hero is Scouts father. His name is Atticus Finch. He is saintly. AFTER--Its hero is Scouts father, the saintly Atticus Finch.

So, what should YOU do? Use appositives!