THE APPOSITIVE PHRASE
An appositive is a word placed after another word to explain or identify it. The appositive always
appears after the word it explains or identifies. It is always a noun or a pronoun, and the word it explains is also
a noun or pronoun.
ex. My uncle, a lawyer, is visiting us.
My teacher, Miss Marshall, is very strict.
An appositive phrase consists of the appositive and its modifiers which may themselves be phrases.
ex. My radio, an old portable, is in the repair shop.
The boys climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the West.
Identifying Appositive Phrases. Underline the appositive phrase in each of the following sentences.
Example: Our house, a brick bungalow, is on Oak Street.
1. Queen Victoria, one of England's greatest monarchs, ruled for sixty-three years.
2. Jane made the salad, a tossed one with French dressing.
3. Harvey Jensen, the pro at the country club, is giving me golf lessons.
4. James Hilton's book, Lost Horizon, has been filmed twice.
5. Chemistry, Sue's favorite subject, is easy for her.
6. Jerry is visiting in Peoria, his old home town.
7. Mr. and Mrs. Miller, our neighbors for the past eight years, are moving to Dallas.
8. Have you ever read The Red Pony, a novel by John Steinbeck?
9. Groucho Marx, the star of many film comedies, also had his own television show.
10. The boys repaired our television set, an eighteen-year-old portable.
11. The poem, one of Robert Frost's best, is called "The Death of the Hired Man."
12. I can't find my notebook, the one I use for history class.
13. Dick's new suit, a gray flannel one, makes him look much older.
14. We enjoy walking, an exercise which requires no great skill.
15. The theater, an old and drafty one, is nevertheless always crowded.
16. My math teacher, Miss Holmes, has taught for twenty years.
17. The garage, a two-car one, is attached to the house.
18. My sister, a graduate of the University of Iowa, is now studying law.
19. Our dog, a cocker spaniel, is ten years old.
20. Mrs. Norbert, the president of the company, will speak at the dinner.
