Appositives

Appositives: Are noun phrases that identify adjacent nouns or pronouns 1. They can occur as sentence openers, subject-verb splits, or sentence closers.

Ex. John, a young boy from the farm, had a difficult time making the adjustment to city life. Ex. Christopher wanted enough time this afternoon to visit the historical bank, a building that was first constructed three hundred years ago.

Appositives: Sentence Openers

1. One of eleven brothers and sisters, Harriet was a moody, willful child.

2. A balding, smooth-faced man, he could have been anywhere between forty and sixty.

Appositives: Subject-Verb Splits

1. Poppa, a good quiet man, spent the last hours before our parting moving aimlessly about the yard, keeping to himself and avoiding me.

2. A man, a weary old pensioner with a bald dirty head and a stained brown corduroy waistcoat, appeared at the door of a small gate lodge.

1. The boy looked at them, big black ugly insects.

2. Hour after hour he stood there, silent, motionless, a shadow carved in ebony and moonlight.

Appositives: Sentence Closers

Each scrambled sentence has one or more appositives. Identify them. Then unscramble the sentence parts and write out the sentence, punctuating it correctly. Compare your sentences with the originals.

Appositives: Exercise

a. the tyrannosaurb. with huge flaring nostrilsc. a long snuffling inhalation that fluttered Baselton’s trouser legsd. gave Baselton a smell

Appositive Exercise #1

OriginalWith huge flaring nostrils, the tyrannosaur gave Baselton a smell, a long snuffling inhalation that fluttered Baselton’s trouser legs.

Appositive Exercise #1: Answer

a. went over to Tom Will’s saloonb. in the late afternoonc. Will Hendersond. and editor of the Eaglee. owner

Appositives: Exercise #2

OriginalIn the late afternoon Will Henderson, owner and editor of the Eagle, went over to Tom Will’s saloon.

Appositive Exercise #2 Answer

a. and the jingle of trace chainsb. was louderc. drag of brakesd. the sound of the approaching grain teamse. thud of big hooves on hard ground

Appositives: Exercise #3

OriginalThe sound of the approaching grain teams was louder, thud of big hooves on hard ground, drag of brakes, and the jingle of trace chains.

Appositives Exercise #3 Answer