Writing Effective Sentences Using Appositive Phrases
- What are appositives and appositive phrases? Simply speaking, an appositive is a noun or a phrase acting as a noun that renames the noun directly next to it. An appositive phrase is an appositive with modifiers and phrases added. Look at this example: "My best friend, the smartest girl in school, was named the valedictorian." The appositive phrase is "the smartest girl in school." It is placed directly next to the noun that it renames, "my best friend."
- Why use an appositive or appositive phrase in your writing? Using an appositive or appositive phrase allows you to explain or add more identifying information to a noun in the sentence without adding an entirely new sentence. For example, in our sentence above, not using an appositive phrase would cause us to have two separate sentences: "My best friend was named the valedictorian. She is the smartest girl in school." Using appositive phrases allows your writing to be more concise and specific.
- Where do appositive phrases go in sentences? You can place appositive phrases anywhere in the sentence. You can place them at the beginning. Look at this example: "The smartest girl in the school, my best friend was named the valedictorian." You can place them in the middle as in our example above. You can place them at the end: "The school named my best friend the valedictorian, the smartest girl in school."
If you need extra assistance with appositive phrases, view the video below.
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