Appositives Commas An appositive is a noun or

Helpful Hints • Sometimes the appositive phrase comes before the noun or pronoun •

Example • Wrong: Romeo and Juliet a play about two young lovers was written

Use commas, lord of all punctuation marks Appositives An appositive is a word or

Should I, for example, put a comma here? Use commas with interrupters Anything that

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Appositives & Commas An appositive is a noun or pronoun — often with modifiers — set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it. Here are some examples of appositives (the noun or pronoun will be in blue, the appositive will be in red). Your friend, Bill, is in trouble. My brother's car, a sporty red convertible with bucket seats, is the envy of my friends. The chief surgeon, an expert in organtransplant procedures, took her nephew on a hospital tour.

Helpful Hints • Sometimes the appositive phrase comes before the noun or pronoun • An appositive phrase : § Renames the noun or pronoun § Has no subject or verb § Can be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning § Can appear anywhere in a sentence

Example • Wrong: Romeo and Juliet a play about two young lovers was written by William Shakespeare a talented writer in the Elizabethan Era. • Right: Romeo and Juliet, a play about two young lovers, was written by William Shakespeare, a talented writer in the Elizabethan Era. Click here to download Appositves & Commas: Practice

Use commas, lord of all punctuation marks Appositives An appositive is a word or group of words that renames a noun or pronoun in a sentence. Appositives are almost always set off with commas and can appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence. • My two favorite states, Rhode Island Maine, are on the East Coast. • A dedicated teacher, Ms. James was awarded on Friday. • Nigeria is home to the Ogonis, a minority tribe. Commas Note: some appositives have essential information and are not set off with commas. For example: The famed talk show host Oprah Winfrey attended the event.

Should I, for example, put a comma here? Use commas with interrupters Anything that appears to “interrupt” or show contrast somewhere in the sentence should be set off with commas. • No, she did not attend class last week. • She did, however, find time to go to Cancun. • I did, in fact, fail her for her excessive absences. • The policy was spelled out in the syllabus, wasn’t it? Commas