Lesson 130
Parts of the Sentence - Appositives
An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames the nounA noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Examples: man, city, book, and courage. Source: Lesson 16
or pronounA pronoun is a word that replaces a noun or a group of words used as a noun.
Source: Lesson 21 that it follows. It is set off by commas unless closely tied to the word that it identifies or renames. ("Closely tied" means that it is needed to identify the word.)
Appositives should not be confused with predicate nominativesA predicate nominative or predicate noun completes a linking verb and renames the subject. It is a complement or completer because it completes the verb. Predicate nominatives complete only linking verbs.
Source: Lesson 102. A verb
will separate the subject from the predicate nominative. An appositive
can follow any noun or pronoun including the subjectThe subject tells who or what about the verb.
Source: Lesson 91, direct objectA direct object receives the action performed by the subject. The verb used with a direct object is always an action verb. Another way of saying it is that the subject does the verb to the direct object.
Source: Lesson 108, or
predicate nominative.
Examples:
My son Carl is a medical technician. (no commas)
Badger, our dog with a missing leg, has a love
for cats. (commas needed)
Appositives may be compound.
Example:
The two children, Wendy and Sam, are excellent students.
You can make one smooth sentence from two short, choppy sentences by using an appositive.
Example:
Ila won the prize. It was a trip to Hawaii.
Ila won the prize, a trip to Hawaii.
Instructions: Combine the following sentences by using an appositive.
1. Sonja sits beside me in English class. She is a girl from Poland.
2. On the deck are many plants. They are very colorful flowers.
- or -
On the deck are very colorful flowers, many plants.
3. There goes David. He is the owner of many businesses.
4. For dinner we had my favorite desserts. We had strawberry pie and cherry nut cake.
- or -
For dinner we had strawberry pie and cherry nut cake, my favorite desserts.
5. Last night I talked with Leon. He is my neighbor. He is my business partner.