An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames 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 “dog”:
- Find the appositives
- What part of speech (n., v., adj., adv) are they and what part of speech are they replacing?
- My dog, a golden retriever, is my best friend.
- My dog, “Cinnamon”, is my best friend.
- My dog, a golden retriever, a dog bred for working and hunting is my best friend.
- My dog, our family pet, is truly man’s, specifically my, best friend.
- My dog, a four-year old golden retriever, is truly man’s, specifically my, best friend.
Essential appositive phrases (defining) and non-essential appositive phrases (non-defining, extra detail)
- Read the following carefully. What is the difference?
- Now listen to me or read the sentences aloud. Can you hear the difference?
- What is the difference in meaning?
- My younger brother who went to UConn, the University of Connecticut, is now a lawyer.
- My younger brother, who went to UConn, the University of Connecticut, is a lawyer.
- Rice is literally served at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, in Korea. The idiom, the way people ask you (for example, “what do you do?” for “what is your job?” in English) for “have you eaten today?” literally translates to “have you had rice today?” That’s how rice is so inextricably woven into the fabric of the culture, everyday life in Korea.
They definitely know how to make rice here, in Korea, and every home, even a university student’s one room apartment, has a rice maker, a sort of pressure cooker for rice. I ate more rice in my first three months here than I had eaten in the previous 30 years, my whole life in the U.S.
If I go too long without drinking milk, my body, even to my soul, just doesn’t feel right. My wife said that while she lived in London that she noticed the same, that her body felt strange, without eating rice.
- My grandmother, once young with her whole life ahead of her, has had more yesterdays than she will have tomorrows.
- My grandmother, my mother’s mother, was born in Ireland.
- My grandmother, my father’s mother, was born in Italy.
- My car
- My car, a white Hyundai Avante, is reliable.
- My car, a four-door “dad mobile”, is a good family car.
- I’ve had my car, a 10 year-old car that I bought used, for five years.
- My car, a plain gasoline engine sedan, runs well.
Find the appositives – “My Grandmother”
My grandmother, my mother’s mother and an Irish immigrant, had four children, Robert, Nancy, Richard, and Linda. Robert, the oldest and called “Bob”, became a priest. Nancy, my mother, had five children. Richard, the younger son, lives in Florida. Linda, the youngest, the baby of the family, is now a grandmother.
- How many people?
- My grandmother, my mother’s mother and an Irish immigrant, had four children.
- My grandmother, my mother’s mother, and an Irish immigrant, had four children.
- What’s the lesson? BE CAREFUL !
- What’s the difference?
- My sister who graduated from UConn, the University of Connecticut, is smart.
- My sister, who graduated from UConn, the University of Connecticut, is smart.
- Hint: one is “defining” and the other is “an extra detail”. How does defining vs. extra detail change the meaning, at least the feeling, of the sentence?
Appositive Writing Practice
- January, _______, is my favorite month.
- a fresh beginning
- ______________
- February, _______, is my favorite month.
- the shortest month
- ______________
- March, _______, is my favorite month.
- the start of the new school year
- ______________
- April, _______, is my favorite month.
- the beginning of baseball season
- a time when all baseball teams have hope
- ______________
- May, _______, is my favorite month.
- when flowers bloom
- ______________
- June, _______, is my favorite month.
- my birth month
- ______________
- July, _______, is my favorite month.
- the start of beach season
- when Korean schools start summer vacation
- ______________
- August, _______, is my favorite month.
- Korea’s hottest month
- ______________
- September, _______, is my favorite month.
- harvest time before Chuseok
- ______________
- October, _______, is my favorite month.
- the time leaves change color
- ______________
- November, _______, is my favorite month.
- the quiet time before Christmas
- ______________
- December, _______, is my favorite month.
- Christmas holiday season
- a time when Christmas music fills the air
- ______________
- January, _______, is my least favorite month.
- February, _______, is my least favorite month.
- March, _______, is my least favorite month.
- April, _______, is my least favorite month.
- May, _______, is my least favorite month.
- June, _______, is my least favorite month.
- July, _______, is my least favorite month.
- August, _______, is my least favorite month.
- September, _______, is my least favorite month.
- October, _______, is my least favorite month.
- November, _______, is my least favorite month.
- December, _______, is my least favorite month.
- Korea’s hottest month Korea’s coldest month
- my birth month
- the rainiest month peak monsoon season
- Christmas season the start of the new year
- four weeks of summer vacation
- the start of baseball season
- the time with trees at their most colorful
- the best time to ____
- swim ski fly kites
- go apple picking
- when my family
- takes a winter vacation
- takes a summer vacation
- makes kimchi
- plants rice and vegetables
- picks rice and vegetables
Joseph English for Kids 