1. Appositives
An appositive is a noun that is placed next to another noun to identify it or add information about it.
An appositive phrase is a group of words that includes an appositive and other words that describe the appositive.

2. An appositive phrase is usually set off from the rest of the sentence with one or more commas.
Example:
Madison’s father, James Madison, was a plantation
owner.
**Madison only had one father, and his father’s name isn’t necessary to identify him.

3. If the appositive is needed to identify the noun or it is a single word, you do not use commas.
Example:
Madison’s friend Thomas Jefferson was president
before him.
** Since Madison had more than one friend, the name Thomas Jefferson is needed to identify this particular friend.

4. Appositives and appositive phrases can come at the beginning, middle, and end of a sentence.
EXAMPLES: An expert on food, Appert worried about food spoilage.
Appert, an expert on food, worried about
food spoilage.
The government gave Appert, an expert on
food, a cash award.
A simple solution had occurred to Appert, an
expert on food.

5. What’s the appositive or appositive phrase? Does it get commas?
1. My son the policeman will be visiting next week.
2. The captain ordered the ship’s carpenters to assemble the shallop a large rowboat.
3. Walter the writer is very attached to his mother, Mrs. Hammon.
4. Elizabeth Teague a sweet and loveable girl grew up to be a mentally troubled woman.

6. What’s the appositive or appositive phrase? Does it need commas?
1. Sweetbriar a company known throughout the South is considering a nationwide advertising campaign.
2. An above-average student and talented musician John made his family proud.
3. The extremely popular American film Titanic was widely criticized for its mediocre script.

7. 1. The actor Paul Newman directed only one picture.
2. 60 Minutes the TV news magazine program featured a story on the popular singer Whitney Houston.