What is an appositive?

Do you know what appositives are? 

They are nouns that rename other nouns, and we use them to give more information about someone or something that we've already named. In this lesson, we'll look more closely at what they are, and we'll see how they're diagrammed.

The author Victor Hugo was born in France.

My sister, a French teacher, studied in France.

They rename another word. What does that mean?

Esther is the subject of the sentence. It is also a noun. The word sister is renaming Esther. It is a noun that gives us more information about Esther. Both words are referring to the same person.

So, sister is a noun that renames another noun, Esther. 

Mike and Bri graduated from UWEC, my alma mater.

Do you know much about phrases? Phrases are groups of words, without both a subject and a verb, that come together to act as one part of speech. 

Esther, my sister with dark hair, sang a song.

The appositive is the single word that is doing the renaming (sister). 

The phrase is that single word plus all of the words that are modifying it (my sister with dark hair).

There are two types of appositives (nonessential and essential), and it's important to know the difference because they are punctuated differently.

Nonessential - Use Commas

Most are nonessential. (These are also called nonrestrictive.) That means that they're not an essential part of the sentence, and sentences would be clear without them. Set these apart from the sentence with commas. 

Essential - Don't Use Commas

Some are essential to the meaning of the sentence. (These are also called restrictive.) If these weren't in the sentence, the meaning of the sentence would be unclear. 

Do you see how we need those in order to understand the meaning of those sentences? Without them, we wouldn't know which movie or author the sentence was referring to.

You can learn more about when to use commas with appositives here. 

Intensive pronouns are used to emphasize another noun or pronoun. We can also call these emphatic appositives. Never use commas with these. 

To diagram these, put them in parentheses after the noun that they're renaming. 

Add any words that modify it on slanted lines just like other modifiers.

If you'd like me to help you teach or learn grammar in an easy and approachable way, check out The Get Smart Grammar Program. It lays everything out clearly and allows you to move at your own pace. Just watch the videos and complete your assignments. By the time you finish, you'll have an excellent grasp of grammar and sentence diagramming, and you'll feel much more confident. 

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