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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. Use an appositive to generate a near-repeat, a close copy, of your idea to give it emphasis.
23 kwi 2021 · An appositive can come before or after the main noun, and it can be at the beginning, middle or end of a sentence. It has to sit beside the noun it defines. As a noun phrase, an appositive does not have a subject or a predicate , and so does not express a complete thought.
This article aims to shed light on the definition of appositives, differentiate between restrictive and non-restrictive forms, guide on punctuating them correctly, and offer practical examples for a better grasp of their usage.
An appositive noun or noun phrase follows another noun or noun phrase in apposition to it; that is, it provides information that further identifies or defines it. Such “bonus facts” are framed by commas unless the appositive is restrictive (i.e., provides essential information about the noun).
Appositives and appositive phrases can come in the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of sentences. Here is an example of each. At the beginning: A soccer player, Bobby likes to practice his footwork each day. In the middle: Joey Lansing, a student from my school, won a gold medal at the Olympics last year.
An appositive noun or phrase can come before or after the main noun. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, as long as it is right next to the noun it describes. In the examples, appositives are red , and nouns are green .
Examples: Sarah, Mrs. Jones, a very thin man. Example sentences (the appositive is in bold): My best friend, Sarah, is moving in with me. Her first teacher, Mrs. Jones, was a strict person. The CEO, a very smart man, decided to sell the company. Note that you could also say (the appositive is in bold): Sarah, my best friend, is moving in with me.
