What is an
Appositive?
Name:__________________________________
An appositive is a phrase which comes after a noun or
pronoun in a sentence, providing additional details about that noun or pronoun. Here are
a couple of things that will help you identify appositives:
•
There is always a comma just before the appositive, and another just after it in the
sentence.
•
If the appositive is taken out of the sentence, the rest of the sentence is still
complete on its own.
Let’s look an example of an appositive in action.
Peter, the boy in the red baseball cap, got on the school bus.
The phrase, the boy in the red baseball cap, gives us more information about the subject of
the sentence, Peter. If we take out the appositive, we still have a complete sentence: Peter got on
the school bus.
It is also correct to switch the description with the proper noun, Peter.
In this case, Peter would become the appositive:
The boy in the red baseball cap, Peter, got on the bus.
Without the appositive, we still have a complete sentence:
The boy in the red baseball cap got on the bus.
Underline the appositive in each sentence. Rewrite the sentence without the
appositive to make sure it makes sense.
1. My shoes, the red ones with white stripes, are too small for me now.
2. His cousin, Jennifer, is going to visit for three weeks.
3. Amanda’s dog, the large brown Chow by the fence, was excited to see her.
4. Our favorite game, Twister, is now available as a computer game.
5. My library book, A Wrinkle in Time, is due next Tuesday.
Copyright ©2012 K12Reader - http://www.k12reader.com
What is an
Appositive?
Name:__________________________________
Key
An appositive is a phrase which comes after a noun or
pronoun in a sentence, providing additional details about that noun or pronoun. Here are
a couple of things that will help you identify appositives:
•
There is always a comma just before the appositive, and another just after it in the
sentence.
•
If the appositive is taken out of the sentence, the rest of the sentence is still
complete on its own.
Let’s look an example of an appositive in action.
Peter, the boy in the red baseball cap, got on the school bus.
The phrase, the boy in the red baseball cap, gives us more information about the subject of
the sentence, Peter. If we take out the appositive, we still have a complete sentence: Peter got on
the school bus.
It is also correct to switch the description with the proper noun, Peter.
In this case, Peter would become the appositive:
The boy in the red baseball cap, Peter, got on the bus.
Without the appositive, we still have a complete sentence:
The boy in the red baseball cap got on the bus.
Underline the appositive in each sentence. Rewrite the sentence without the
appositive to make sure it makes sense.
1. My shoes, the red ones with white stripes, are too small for me now.
My shoes are too small for me now.
2. His cousin, Jennifer, is going to visit for three weeks.
His cousin is going to visit for three weeks.
3. Amanda’s dog, the large brown Chow by the fence, was excited to see her.
Amanda’s dog was excited to see her.
4. Our favorite game, Twister, is now available as a computer game.
Our favorite game is now available as a computer game.
5. My library book, A Wrinkle in Time, is due next Tuesday.
My library book is due next Tuesday.
Copyright ©2012 K12Reader - http://www.k12reader.com