AppositivesWhat Is an Appositive?

An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames and perhaps clarifies or describes another noun right beside it. The appositive can be a short or long combination of words. Look at these appositive examples, all of which rename insect:

The insect, a cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large cockroach, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.

The insect, a large, hairy-legged cockroach that has spied my bowl of oatmeal, is crawling across the kitchen table.

Here are more examples:

During the dinner conversation, Clifford, the messiest eater at the table, spewed mashed potatoes like an erupting volcano.

My 486 computer, a modern-day dinosaur, chews floppy disks as noisily as my brother does peanut brittle.

Genette's bedroom desk, the biggest disaster area in the house, is a collection of overdue library books, dirty plates, computer components, old mail, cat hair, and empty potato chip bags.

Rex, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were still a puppy.

Here, the core sentence is My childhood friend loved horses. It works as a sentence on its own, but the appositive, the proper noun Anne-Marie, gives the reader supplemental information about my friend. It renames her.

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AppositivesNon-Restrictive Appositives Need Commas

The important point to remember is that a nonessential appositive is always separated from the rest of the sentence with comma(s). At its heart, a non-essential appositive is bonus information.

Hermione Granger, a witch at Hogwarts School, is accomplished at spells.

The core of this sentence is Hermione Granger is accomplished at spells. A witch at Hogwarts School is an appositive noun phrase that gives us additional information about Hermione Granger.

The Eiffel Tower, Gustave Eiffel’s masterpiece, can be found on the Champs de Mars.

This is a sentence about where the Eiffel Tower can be found. The appositive phrase Gustave Eiffel’s masterpiece tells us a bit more about the sentence’s subject noun, Eiffel Tower.

My childhood friend, Anne-Marie, loved horses.

Sentence Positions for Appositives

When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:

A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:

Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:

Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.

Other Ways to Indicate Non-Essential Appositives

Depending on the tone you want to achieve and the context, you may also choose either parentheses, brackets, or dashes to frame a nonrestrictive appositive phrase.

My brother often likens himself to Zeus (the god of thunder).

My brother often likens himself to Zeus—the god of thunder.

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AppositivesRestrictive Appositives Should Not Have Commas

When an appositive noun or noun phrase contains an essential element without which a sentence’s meaning would materially alter, do not frame it with commas.

My friend, Bill, owes me fifty dollars. (non-restrictive; assumes only one friend in the world)

My friend Bill owes me fifty dollars. (restrictive; assumes more than one friend)

There are no commas here because Bill is an essential description of my friend. We can assume from this sentence that the speaker has many friends, but the one who owes him or her money is Bill. The unlikely circumstance under which the first sentence could be construed as correct would be if the speaker has only one confirmed friend, and that friend’s name is Bill.

Here are some more examples of restrictive appositives:

My sister Jane is 27 years old. (Jane renames sister)

Sarah's dog Rover is a golden retriever. (Rover renames dog.)

I really like my grandfather's horse Chester. (Chester renames horse.)

Don’t Confuse Relative Clauses with Appositive ClausesA relative clause includes in its internal structure the same noun that it attaches to. The relative pronoun means the same thing as the noun that the clause is attached to; the relative pronoun has a grammatical role that combines being a connector with a role in the syntax of its clause. An appositive clause does not include the noun that it attaches to; the appositive clause is like a linking verb--or an equal sign: the idea = students can become independent learners. The connector that just connects the clause to the noun without playing any internal role in the clause.

Nouns like idea, belief, thought, knowledge, and a few others are often followed by appositive clauses. This “that” is the one that introduces a noun clause. It has no function in its noun clause.

The belief [that students can become independent learners] is common among teachers.

Our knowledge [that students can become independent learners] drives our work.

My feeling [that students can become independent learners] is shared by many other teachers.Based on the preceding information, which of the following “that” clauses is an appositive and which is a relative clause?

1. The idea [that I shared with my students] comes from many years of teaching experience. 2. The idea [that we must work together as a team] guides our department's work.

Attributions

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/appositive.htm

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Appositives https://www.grammarly.com/blog/appositive/ http://www2.gsu.edu/~eslhpb/grammar/lecture_11/relative.html

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