SAT Complete Course | Sentence Correction

Appositives
Skill 1: Introduction
1. What is an appositive?

An appositive is a noun that immediately follows and renames another noun in order to clarify or
classify it.

An appositive is actually a reduced adjective clause whose main verb is a linking verb.

2. Why are appositives used?

Appositives are used to reduce wordiness, add detail, and add syntactic variety to a sentence.

My teacher is a tough grader.

Mrs. Green is a tough grader.

My teacher whose name is Mrs. Green is a tough grader.

My teacher Mrs. Green is a tough grader.

Skill 2: Placement of an Appositive

1. After a noun:
Ms. Wood, Sally’s favorite teacher in high school, is friendly and approachable.

2. Before a noun:
Sally’s favorite teacher in high school, Ms. Wood is friendly and approachable.

3. At the end of a sentence:

Martha ate lunch at Chili’s, her favorite restaurant on the weekends.
My uncle was staying at the Holiday Inn, the most affordable hotel in the neighborhood.

Skill 3: How do I punctuate appositives?

Look at the following sentence:
Example: My brother Bill is here.
Now, see how adding two commas changes that sentence's meaning:
Example: My brother, Bill, is here.
The first sentence means I have more than one brother. The commas in the second sentence mean
that Bill is my only brother.
Why? In the first sentence, Bill is essential information: it identifies which of my two (or more)
brothers I'm speaking of. This is why no commas enclose Bill.
In the second sentence, Bill is nonessential information — whom else but Bill could I mean? — hence
the commas.

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Take a look at another example:

Example: Mark Twain's book, Tom Sawyer, is a delight.
Because of the commas, that sentence states that Twain wrote only one book. In fact, he wrote more
than two dozen of them.

Correct: Mark Twain's book Tom Sawyer is a delight.

Identifier-names
Look at the following sentence:

Example: I went to see the movie, “Midnight in Paris”, with my friend, Jessie.

Unless “Midnight in Paris” is the only movie in the world and Jessie is the writer’s only friend.
Otherwise, the punctuation should be:

I went to see the movie “Midnight in Paris” with my friend Jessie.

Look at another example:

I went to see Woody Allen’s latest movie, “Midnight in Paris,” with my oldest friend, Jessie.

You need a comma after “movie” because this and only this is Mr. Allen’s newest movie in theaters,
and before “Jessie” because she and only she is the writer’s oldest friend.

Practice Questions
 Underline the appositive.
 Identify the appositive as restrictive (no commas) or nonrestrictive (commas).
 Punctuate the appositive appropriately.

1. One of their favorite baseball players Barry Bonds played for the San Francisco Giants.

2. My third grade teacher Mrs. Brown is now retired.

3. President Obama the popular US president usually presents eloquent speeches.

4. The Lincoln Memorial a beautiful structure is located near the Washington Monument.

5. Sally Bill’s younger sister is afraid of heights.

6. Mark’s teacher John Smith served in the army.

7. Your cousin Danielle has beautiful hair.

8. Elvis Presley my favorite musician will be legendary for decades to come.

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SAT Complete Course | Sentence Correction

9. A credible author Stephen King has written many horror novels.

10. Fred’s biology teacher, Ted Jones, served in the navy.

11. My neighbor Ann an elderly woman loves to plant her own vegetables.

12. The famous musician whose name is Stevie Wonder is completely blind.

13. Stevie Wonder, a famous musician, is completely blind.

Combine the following sentences using appositive phrases. Punctuate and underline the appositives that
are used.

1. A. The California coastline is the longest of all the states.

B. The California coastline is a national treasure.

2. A. The sick elephant attacked its trainer.

B. The sick elephant is the one in the third cage.

3. A. The careless man shot a condor.

B. The condor is the rarest bird in California.

4. A. The basketball players make millions of dollars a year.

B. Kobe makes millions of dollars a year.
C. Shaq makes millions of dollars a year.
(Hint: Use a connective word.)

Homework

(1, S2/2015/B)

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