Appositives & Interrupters

Which of the following sentences correctly uses commas to set off a non-essential clause?

• My brother who is a doctor lives in New York.

• My brother, who is a doctor, lives in New York.

Answer explanation

The correct choice is 'My brother, who is a doctor, lives in New York.' Commas are used to set off the non-essential clause 'who is a doctor.'

Identify the appositive in the following sentence: "Sarah, my best friend, loves to read mystery novels."

• Sarah loves to read

• my best friend

• loves to read mystery novels

• mystery novels

Answer explanation

The appositive in the sentence is 'my best friend' as it renames or explains 'Sarah'.

Which sentence correctly differentiates essential from non-essential information?

• The car that is red is faster than the blue one.

• The car, which is red, is faster than the blue one.

Answer explanation

The correct sentence uses 'that' to introduce essential information, while the incorrect sentence uses 'which' for non-essential information.

Choose the sentence where the interrupter is correctly punctuated.

• My sister, by the way, will join us later.

• My sister by the way will join us later.

Answer explanation

The correct sentence is 'My sister, by the way, will join us later.' because the interrupter 'by the way' is correctly punctuated with commas.

In the sentence "The teacher, a tall man with glasses, wrote the equation on the board," what is the appositive?

• The teacher

• a tall man with glasses

• wrote the equation

• on the board

Answer explanation

The appositive in the sentence is 'a tall man with glasses' as it renames or explains the noun 'teacher'.

Which sentence uses commas correctly to set off a non-essential phrase?

• The book on the table, is mine.

• The book, on the table, is mine.

Answer explanation

The correct sentence is 'The book, on the table, is mine.' because the commas correctly set off the non-essential phrase 'on the table' from the main sentence.

Identify the non-essential clause in this sentence: "My dog, who loves to play fetch, is very active."

• My dog

• who loves to play fetch

• is very active

Answer explanation

The non-essential clause in the sentence is 'who loves to play fetch' because it provides additional information about the dog but is not necessary for the sentence's main meaning.

Which sentence correctly punctuates an appositive?

• My cat a Siamese is very vocal.

• My cat, a Siamese, is very vocal.

Answer explanation

The correct sentence punctuates the appositive 'a Siamese' with commas, as seen in 'My cat, a Siamese, is very vocal.'

Choose the sentence that correctly uses commas.

• My neighbor, an elderly man is very kind.

• My neighbor, an elderly man, is very kind.

Answer explanation

The correct answer is 'My neighbor, an elderly man, is very kind.' Commas are used to set off the appositive phrase 'an elderly man' from the rest of the sentence.

In the sentence "Lisa, who often reads late into the night, is a voracious reader," what is the role of the phrase "who often reads late into the night"?

• It is an essential clause.

• It is a non-essential clause.

Answer explanation

The phrase 'who often reads late into the night' is a non-essential clause in the sentence.