Appositives and Appositive Phrases

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What is an appositive?

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An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that renames or provides additional information about another noun right beside it.

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What is an essential (or restrictive) appositive?

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An essential (or restrictive) appositive provides information that is needed to identify the preceding noun or pronoun.

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What is a nonessential (or nonrestrictive) appositive?

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A nonessential (or nonrestrictive) appositive adds extra information that can be omitted without changing the meaning of the sentence.

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How do you punctuate an essential appositive?

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An essential appositive is not set off by commas.

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How do you punctuate a nonessential appositive?

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A nonessential appositive is set off by commas.

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Example of an essential appositive in a sentence.

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My brother, a talented musician, plays the guitar. (Here, 'a talented musician' is nonessential.)

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Example of a nonessential appositive in a sentence.

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My brother, a talented musician, plays the guitar. (Here, 'a talented musician' is essential.)

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What is an appositive phrase?

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An appositive phrase includes the appositive and any modifiers that describe it.

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Identify the appositive phrase: 'My friend, a skilled painter, created this artwork.'

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'a skilled painter' is the appositive phrase.

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True or False: Nonessential appositives are always set off with commas.

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True.