What Is an Appositive? An appositive is a noun that immediately follows and renames another noun in order to clarify or classify it. Appositives are used to reduce wordiness, add detail, and add syntactic variety to a sentence. For example, you can combine two simple sentences to create one sentence that contains an appositive.
What does an appositive phrase identify or explain?
An appositive phrase is a special kind of noun phrase that explains or identifies another noun or pronoun. There are two kinds of appositive phrases: Essential appositive phrases (also called restrictive appositive phrases) and non-essential appositive phrases (also called nonrestrictive appositive phrases).
How to identify appositive?
Steps for Identifying Appositive Phrases
- Find the nouns in the sentence.
- Check if there are two nouns close together.
- When you identify two noun phrases, ask yourself if the second noun phrase renames the first. Include each of the modifiers too, if applicable. ...
What does appositive mean in a part of speech?
Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that follow or come before a noun, and give more information about it. The puppy, a golden retriever, is my newest pet. “ a golden retriever ” is an appositive to “ The puppy. ” The word appositive is derived from the Latin phrases ad and positio meaning “near” and “placement.” II. Examples of Appositive
What are some examples of appositive phrases?
Identify the appositive:
- My teacher, Ms. Sally, is excellent at math.
- My old apartment, on the top floor of an old house, was recently rented to a new tenant.
- Rambunctious is the perfect word to describe our friends' dogs, Moki and Neko. ...
- Our city's mayor, Nellie Smith, is also a well-known philanthropist.
- The famous chef Julia Childs lived in France for many years.
What is an example of an appositive?
An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that clarifies, identifies, describes, or otherwise renames another noun or noun phrase. For example, the sentence My cousin Rebecca is a doctor contains the appositive noun Rebecca. The appositive Rebecca identifies the noun cousin and both words refer to the same person.
What is the appositive phrase in a sentence?
What Is an Appositive Phrase? An appositive phrase redefines, renames, or modifies a noun with essential or nonessential information. Basically, appositives clarify a noun with another noun or noun phrase that gives a noun extra context.
What is an appositive give two or three examples?
I. What is an Appositive? Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that follow or come before a noun, and give more information about it. For example, The puppy, a golden retriever, is my newest pet.
How do you identify Appositives?
An appositive phrase usually follows the word it explains or identifies, but it may also precede it. A bold innovator, Wassily Kandinsky is known for his colorful abstract paintings. The first state to ratify the U. S. Constitution, Delaware is rich in history. A beautiful collie, Skip was my favorite dog.
Do Appositives always have commas?
Rule: When an appositive is essential to the meaning of the noun it belongs to, don't use commas. When the noun preceding the appositive provides sufficient identification on its own, use commas around the appositive. Example: Jorge Torres, our senator, was born in California.
Can an appositive be a single word?
One type of phrase is the appositive, which can be one word or a phrase that renames another noun phrase in the sentence. To punctuate appositives, you must first determine if the phrase is restrictive or nonrestrictive.
What is an appositive for kids?
Appositives are words or phrases that are used before or after other nouns or pronouns to further describe them. In the examples, the appositives gave the reader additional information about the nouns and pronouns in the sentences.
How do you combine sentences using Appositives?
To combine two sentences using an appositive, drop the subject and verb from the sentence that renames the noun and turn it into a phrase. Note that in the previous example, the appositive is positioned immediately after the noun it describes.
What is a phrase example?
1 : a group of two or more words that express a single idea but do not form a complete sentence The group of words "out the door" in "they ran out the door" is a phrase.
What is the difference between an appositive and an appositive phrase?
An appositive is a noun or pronoun that renames or identifies another noun or pronoun in some way. An appositive phrase consists of an appositive and its modifiers. An appositive phrase can be either essential (restrictive) or nonessential (nonrestrictive).
Can you end a sentence with an appositive?
Similarly, an appositive can be found as a phrase at the end of a sentence. Appositives at the Ends of Sentences Martha ate lunch at Chili's, her favorite restaurant on the weekends.
What are noun phrases examples?
Noun phrases are groups of words that function like nouns. Typically, they act as subjects, objects or prepositional objects in a sentence....Examples of simple noun phrases include:the little boy.the happy puppy.the building on the corner.the sharp pencil.your religion.
What Is an Appositive? (with Examples)
An appositive is a noun or a noun phrase that sits next to another noun to rename it or to describe it in another way. (The word appositive comes from the Latin for to put near .)
Easy Examples of Appositives
In the examples below, the appositive is shaded and the noun being renamed or described in another way is in bold.
Restrictive and Non-restrictive Appositives
Often an appositive will just provide bonus information that could be removed without destroying the meaning. Sometimes, however, removing an appositive will leave you with a question.
Real-Life Examples of Appositives
It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man. (French author Georges Bernanos)
Why Should I Care about Appositives?
As a native speaker, you'll naturally be good at creating restrictive appositives (i.e., ones essential for meaning), but non-restrictive ones (i.e., ones that just add bonus information) are likely to come less naturally because it's a more deliberate act to insert them.
Key Points
Use an appositive, i.e., a renaming or new description of your noun, to shoehorn interesting information or detail into your sentence without destroying your sentence structure.
What Is an Appositive?
In English, an appositive can be a noun, noun phrase, or pronoun next to the main noun or pronoun that helps identify or explain the main noun. Appositives in English often appear with modifiers. They may be a single word or several words, but the intent is the same.
What Is Apposition In English Grammar?
Apposition is the process in which two coordinate elements — mostly noun phrases — are placed side-by-side in a sentence. We call these elements appositives. These two elements denote the same subject and have the same relationship with the other sentence elements. However, the second appositive often describes the first.
Types Of Apposition In English
Apposition is classified into two types: restrictive apposition and non-restrictive apposition. In restrictive apposition, the second appositive is considered a part of the first appositive. Meanwhile, in a non-restrictive apposition, the second appositive is not a part of the first appositive.
What Is an Appositive And Appositive Phrase?
An appositive defines or identifies the main noun or pronoun that it sits beside. An appositive phrase is made up of an appositive and its modifiers. There are two types of appositives. First, nonrestrictive or nonessential appositives provide nonessential information about the main noun or pronoun.
Why Are Appositives Important?
Appositives are an important writing tool because they help add color and detail to writing. For example, appositives add variation and improve rhythm by offering an alternative to lots of short, consecutive sentences. Furthermore, appositives can help make your writing more concise and interesting.
What Is an Example Of Appositives?
Appositives are noun or noun phrases that sit beside the main noun. It describes, helps identify, explains, or gives more information about that main noun. For example: My cat, Bengal, is bigger than you might expect. In the example, “my cat” is in apposition to “Bengal.” This is because “my cat” is describing or defining what “Bengal” is.
How Do You Write an Appositive?
Appositives can come at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, but they must contain a noun. What’s more, the appositive should come directly after the noun or pronoun that it describes. That said, here’s how to correctly write an appositive: First, find a main noun in a sentence.
I. What is an Appositive?
Appositives are nouns or noun phrases that follow or come before a noun, and give more information about it.
II. Examples of Appositive
A two-year-old rambunctious puppy, Brady ripped up a pillow while I was away for a moment in the kitchen.
III. Types of Appositive
Restrictive appositives are considered absolutely necessary in understanding the primary noun presented. Oftentimes, restrictive appositives are not separated by commas but connected to the primary noun. Here are a few examples of restrictive appositives:
IV. The Importance of Appositive
Appositives are positively useful in that they explain and further identify certain nouns. They allow writers and speakers to move from the general to the specific or vice versa. Because speech and writing are complicated and nuanced, appositives are common and simple ways of adding more information in the midst of a sentence or phrase.
V. Examples of Appositive in Literature
Appositives are used frequently in literature, in plays, prose and poetry, speeches, and formal essays alike.
VI. Examples of Appositive in Pop Culture
Appositives allow speakers to elaborate and dramatize, singers to describe and embellish, and characters to speak realistically and with detail.
VII. Related Terms
Like appositives, explanatory phrases provide a sentence with more information or an explanation for why something has happened. Whereas appositives are specifically noun phrases that describe another noun, explanatory phrases can be any type of grammar construction.
Appositives in Literature
Literature makes a great canvas for the use of appositives, as authors such as Alice Walker, George Orwell, and Truman Capote, among others, have shown.
Appositives in Academics
Academicians and others have also explained the appositive and how this element of grammar functions, as the following excerpts demonstrate.
Appositives in Popular Culture
Magazine writers, film characters, and even companies selling products have effectively used appositives over the years, as the following quotes show.
Appositive Exercises
Nordquist, Richard. "Definition and Examples of Appositives in English." ThoughtCo, Jul. 4, 2021, thoughtco.com/what-is-appositive-grammar-1689128. Nordquist, Richard. (2021, July 4). Definition and Examples of Appositives in English. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-appositive-grammar-1689128 Nordquist, Richard.
Commas and Appositives
Appositive nouns and noun phrases are often nonrestrictive; that is, they can be omitted from a sentence without obscuring the identity of the nouns they describe. Another word for nonrestrictive is nonessential. Always bookend a nonrestrictive, appositive noun or phrase with commas in the middle of a sentence.
Use Commas to Frame Nonrestrictive Elements
Frédéric Chopin a Polish composer was one of the most celebrated virtuoso pianists of his day.
Easy Examples of Appositives
Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Appositives
Real-Life Examples of Appositives
- It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man. (French author Georges Bernanos)
- Lou Epstein, the oldest, shortest, and baldest of the three Epstein brothers, barely looked up from the cash register when Alfred entered the store. (extract from The Contender by Robert Lipsyte)
Appositives Are An Efficient Way to Add information.
- Alexander Graham Bell, the man credited with inventing the first telephone, was declared one of the country's greatest inventors in 1936.
- Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, became Queen of England in 1558.
- In his 1835 paper published in the Magazine of Natural History, Edward Blyth, an acquaintance of Charles Darwin's, had documented all the leading tenets of Darwin's work 24 years ahead …
- Alexander Graham Bell, the man credited with inventing the first telephone, was declared one of the country's greatest inventors in 1936.
- Elizabeth I, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, became Queen of England in 1558.
- In his 1835 paper published in the Magazine of Natural History, Edward Blyth, an acquaintance of Charles Darwin's, had documented all the leading tenets of Darwin's work 24 years ahead of Darwin's...
An Appositive Can Be A Way of Creating emphasis.
- It is the perpetual dread of fear, the fear of fear, that shapes the face of a brave man.
- This tale, this tragic tale, was full of cruel wars, savage devastation, unnecessary deaths and the inevitable search for bloody vengeance.
I. What Is An appositive?
II. Examples of Appositive
- Example 1
A two-year-old rambunctious puppy, Brady ripped up a pillow while I was away for a moment in the kitchen. The appositive “A two-year-old rambunctious puppy” precedes the noun “Brady.” - Example 2
Angry at Brady, I began yelling but stopped when I looked at him, a sweet little puppy unaware of his wrongdoing and still not quite housetrained. Here the appositive is the noun phrase “a sweet little puppy unaware of his wrongdoing and still not quite housetrained.“ As is shown in these tw…
III. Types of Appositive
- a. Restrictive Appositives
Restrictive appositives are considered absolutely necessary in understanding the primary noun presented. Oftentimes, restrictive appositives are not separated by commas but connected to the primary noun. Here are a few examples of restrictive appositives: My friend Evan Jamesloves vi… - b. Non-restrictive Appositives
Non-restrictive appositives, on the other hand, provide additional information that is not necessary for understanding. Because it is unnecessary information, non-restrictive appositives are typically separated from the primary noun by commas. I bought a new skirt, a short skirt with a sunflowe…
IV. The Importance of Appositive
- Appositives are positively useful in that they explain and further identify certain nouns. They allow writers and speakers to move from the general to the specific or vice versa. Because speech and writing are complicated and nuanced, appositives are common and simple ways of adding more information in the midst of a sentence or phrase.
v. Examples of Appositive in Literature
- Appositives are used frequently in literature, in plays, prose and poetry, speeches, and formal essaysalike.
VI. Examples of Appositive in Pop Culture
- Appositives allow speakers to elaborate and dramatize, singers to describe and embellish, and charactersto speak realistically and with detail.
VII. Related Terms
- Explanatory Phrases
Like appositives, explanatory phrases provide a sentence with more information or an explanation for why something has happened. Whereas appositives are specifically noun phrases that describe another noun, explanatory phrases can be any type of grammar construction. Here is a… - Adjective Phrases
Similar to appositives, adjective phrases add information to a noun phrase. The only difference is adjective phrases begin with adjectives, whereas appositives are noun phrases. Here is an example of an appositive versus an adjective phrase: Sentence with an Appositive: Jerry, a star s…
VIII. in Closing
- Appositives provide sentences with variety and more information, whether necessary in the form of the restrictive appositive, or additional in the form of the non-restrictive appositive. They serve to elaborate and provide interesting detail to otherwise simple noun phrases.