The scouts climbed the mountain, one of the highest in the region. In English grammar, an appositive is a noun, noun phrase, or series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to identify or rename it. 1. Examples of appositives with explanation: My teacher Mrs. Jones is very nice. “The Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, Africa’s only nuclear power plant, was inaugurated in 1984 by the apartheid regime and is the major source of electricity for the Western Cape’s 4.5 million population.”. In this example, the noun phrase, “the girl who plays tennis,” is the appositive. In this example, the noun “mechanical woman” is defined and identified by a long noun phrase, a restrictive appositive, “flashing, gassy circles for eyes,” which serves as a useful device in this excerpt, and brings variety to the sentence, enhancing its meaning. Examples of appositive nouns involve nouns that rename the noun next to it. Plain nothingness compared to it is a comfort. Wodehouse, Right Ho, Jeeves, 1934) "The sidewalk just outside the Casino was strewn with discarded tickets, the chaff of wasted hope ." When a noun or word is followed by another noun or phrase that renames or identifies it, this is called appositive. The appositive phrase in the sentence is highlighted using red color. Unlock Content Over 83,000 lessons in all major subjects It stands next to a noun or pronoun and adds information or details. Nonrestrictive appositives are usually set off by commas, parentheses, or dashes. In writing a non-restrictive appositive is set off by commas. You may also see balanced sentences usage and examples. Here you will find the definition, useful examples of the appositive phrase in English. “I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left –Murderers Row, our championship team of 1927. Dr. Richard Nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and English at Georgia Southern University and the author of several university-level grammar and composition textbooks. Lisbon, a thriving port in Portugal, has often been the scene of espionage. "Christmas Eve afternoon we scrape together a nickel and go to the butcher's to buy Queenie's traditional gift. More Examples of Sentences with Appositives. An appositive is a noun or noun phrase that defines or restates another noun (or pronoun). “My father, a fat, funny man with beautiful eyes and a subversive wit, is trying to decide which of his eight children he will take with him to the county fair.”. 727. The phrases set off by commas in the following sentences are examples of non-restrictive appositives. In the above example two noun phrases his wife and the queen both refer to the same person in the sentence, thus they are both said to be in apposition. I like spaghetti, an Italian dish with noodles and sauce. Another nominee, John Prine is a country singer-songwriter. My sister-in-law Mary can knit a sweater a day. It can be at the beginning, middle, or end of a sentence, as long as it is right next to the noun it describes. Examples of Appositive in Literature Example #1: A Christmas Memory (By Truman Capote) “Christmas Eve afternoon we scrape together a nickel and go to the butcher’s to buy Queenie’s traditional gift, a good gnawable beef bone.” In the above excerpt, a restrictive appositive is clarifying and describing a … 1. You also learn different forms of. Generally, the appositive follows the word it defines, as in My friend, Susan, came to dinner. 1. The appositive renames or describes the subject king by specifying which king the sentence is about. For a more informal construction, you may use a dash instead of the colon before a short, emphatic appositive at the end of a sentence. Before we take a closer look at appositives, however, we need to review phrases and clauses. "The essence of loneliness is that one both remembers and hopes, though in vain, in the midst of one's dissolution. He has 30 of … Meaning of appositive with illustrations and photos. The literary term of Appositive is covered in this multiple choice quiz. (extract from The Contender by Robert Lipsyte) 1. In addition, an appositive phrase gives variety to a literary work by using sentences of varied lengths, allowing the writers to use interesting details with smooth flow of the reading experience. An appositive is one of those units. The function of appositive in literary works is to provide information, which is either essential or additional. In the examples, appositives are red, and nouns are green. My best friend, Claire, went on vacation with us to Florida. 2. ( Alice Walker, "Beauty: When the Other Dancer Is the Self." This type of appositive is often used with commas, for example, “John, my friend, likes to eat chocolates.” Here, my friend is a non-restrictive appositive, because it is not necessary for identifying John. EXAMPLES. This is a literary device that appears before or after a noun or noun phrase. Generally, appositives serve to give the reader just a bit more information about the thing in question. Mrs. Jones renames teacher. If you frequently review examples of appositive nouns, you'll be … In the case of Non-Restrictive Apposition, the second appositive marked by comma is not necessarily part of the first appositive; rather, it provides information on it. Copyright © 2020 Literary Devices. Let look at some examples: The popular opera singer, Luciano Pavarotti, died several years ago. It also gives meanings to different sentences in literary texts, and helps in identifying other nouns. Example of a One-Word Appositive: My friend, Shari, plays tennis. It is helpful to combine sentences to avoid too many choppy and short sentences. Here are some examples of appositives (the noun or pronoun will be in blue, the appositive will be in red). Our home, a farmhouse, is being repaired. My uncle, a doctor, is visiting America for the holidays. And what if you were told, you can merge this two sentences into one sentence. Example: We went on vacation. Apposition is a grammatical construction in which two elements, normally noun phrases, are placed side by side so that one element identifies the other in a different way; the two elements are said to be in apposition.One of the elements is called the appositive, although its identification requires consideration of how the elements are used in a sentence. The book Black Beauty is about a horse. But the appositive can also precede the noun it defines. The girl sitting behind me in class renames Karen. An appositive is a noun or pronoun — often with modifiers — set beside another noun or pronoun to explain or identify it. Appositive examples are numerous in literature, as they are in regular conversation, journalism, advertising, songwriting, speeches, and so on. These are constructions where one of the appositives consísts itself of two or more units which are themselves in apposition … In this line, “the condemned cells” is a noun phrase, while “a row of sheds” is an appositive that explains this noun phrase. The farmer has cows. Appositives add more information to the sentence. 4. Example sentences containing appositive For instance: “We were waiting outside the condemned cells, a row of sheds fronted with double bars, like small animal cages.” (A Hanging, by George Orwell). Dashes almost always precede a short, climactic appositive, whereas a colon will generally precede longer appositives. Lou Epstein, the oldest, shortest, and baldest of the three Epstein brothers, barely looked up from the cash register when Alfred entered the store. (Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn. Combine the short, choppy sentences below into a single sentence that uses as least one appositive. Appositive definition, a word or phrase in apposition. Book Writing Tips English Writing Skills Writing Resources English Lessons English Vocabulary Words Learn English Words … subject or object. Examples of Appositive in Literature Example #1: A Christmas Memory (By Truman Capote) “Christmas Eve afternoon we scrape together a nickel and go to the butcher’s to buy Queenie’s traditional gift, a good gnawable beef bone.” In the above excerpt, a restrictive appositive is clarifying and describing a … Examples from Classical Literature An appositive adjective is added to its noun to explain it, like a noun in apposition . Karen, the girl sitting behind me in class, is wearing a green shirt. Let's look at another example from literature: Robert Louis Stevenson's story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Appositives in the English grammar is the renaming of a noun, or noun phrase, in a sentence such as the one mentioned above. Related words - appositive synonyms, antonyms, hypernyms and hyponyms. In the above example, Batman is the essential appositive without which the sentence sounds incomplete due to lack of information. An appositive is usually non-restrictive which means that it only gives additional information about the first noun phrase whose reference in quite clear. adverbial syntactic function. Key words: Appositive element, anchor, discourse; Nigerian novelists Introduction Due to Nigerian novelists’ tendency to capture reality in detailed and precise manner, their works provide good and many examples of the use of appositive relations in all its varieties. USE AN EMPHATIC APPOSITIVE AT THE END OF A SENTENCE, FOLLOWING A DASH. That ladybug, an insect, just landed on the rose bush. 4. 5. Otherwise, the whole purpose of language is lost. In the above excerpt, a restrictive appositive is clarifying and describing a noun “traditional gift.” Here, this literary device has appeared after the noun, specifying the type of gift. By using ThoughtCo, you accept our, Punctuating Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Appositives, Nonrestrictive Elements: Definition and Examples, 100 Key Terms Used in the Study of Grammar, Practice in Identifying Appositives in Sentences, Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia, M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester, B.A., English, State University of New York. This is another good example of non-restrictive appositive, in which the noun “father” does not need extra information, but the author has used a long noun phrase, “a fat, funny man … and a subversive wit,” to describe it. They are most often found when introducing the reader to a new character or concept. A noun clause may also be used in apposition to a noun to explain its meaning. To sum up, these phrases are nouns or pronouns that explain more about another noun. Mr. Harrison, the principal at my school, wears a tie every day. Pronunciation of appositive and it's etymology. Rage against the Machine, a band from California, was also nominated. It is always used with a comma. “Though her cheeks were high-colored and her teeth strong and yellow, she looked like a mechanical woman, a machine with flashing, glassy circles for eyes.”. "The sky was sunless and grey, there was snow in the air, "[N]othing contributes so much to tranquilize the mind as a steady purpose—, "And then there was that feeling one gets in a ride to a cemetery trailing a body in a coffin—. All Rights Reserved. Our sentences are not just a bunch of words thrown together. An appositive noun also defines, explains, and clarifies the meaning of a sentence. Example: His wife, the queen is not easily impressed. 3. The smallest state in the US, Rhode Island is in the northeast. In the above extract, Hammer has used an appositive immediately after the noun phrase “Nuclear power station,” which adds information to the sentence. Read on to learn more! See more. In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens. The dog, a beagle, is great at following a scent. Article by 7ESL. The word "appositive" comes from the Latin for "to put near." It clarifies the meaning of a phrase but, if the appositive is removed, the meaning of the entire sentence changes. Among the instances of apposition of the nominal class, I have found three examples of reiteratíve apposition, sentences (17), (18) and (19). They are one and the same. In a series … Appositive phrases are not always necessary, though they can be indispensable if they provide essential information for identifying the noun in question. An appositive noun or phrase can come before or after the main noun. My best friend went with us. I have had the further honor of living with and playing with these men on my right — the Bronx Bombers, the Yankees of today. Appositive Phrase An appositive phrase is: A noun or pronoun with modifiers (describing words). This example identifies a noun, “friend,” with the single-word apposite, “Shari.” Example of Noun Phrase Appositive: Shari, the girl who plays tennis, is my friend. Examples of Appositives. Those words must be divided and organized into communicable units. Simply, we can define it as a noun phrase or a noun that defines or explains another noun, which it follows. “Christmas Eve afternoon we scrape together a nickel and go to the butcher’s to buy Queenie’s traditional gift, a good gnawable beef bone.”. A clauseis a unit of word… 3. Marcus, my sister's hamster, likes to run in a wheel. This presents an example of non-restrictive appositive which, if removed, does not change the meaning of the sentence. Appositive is an excellent tool that can be defined as a noun or phrase of noun that describes, identifies or renames another word in the same sentence. It clarifies the meaning of a phrase but, if the appositive is removed, the meaning of the entire sentence changes. Non-restrictive appositive gives non-essential or extra information, which is not important to identify the phrase or noun in apposition. It is a literary device, that comes after (or sometimes before) a noun. 2. In this grammatical structure, writers place elements like noun phrases side-by-side, where one element serves to define the other, and one is in apposition to the other. Study this example: A landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education desegregated the public schools. A phrase is a word or group of words that function as a meaningful unit within a sentence. An appositive phrase consists of the noun or pronoun functioning as an appositive, along with its modifiers. Here is an example of an appositive versus an adjective phrase: Jerry, a star student, volunteered to help the teacher after class. For two grammatical units to be in apposition, they must be used as the same part of the sentence i.e. EXAMPLES: The 2019 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominees included an American rock band, Devo. "My father, a fat, funny man with beautiful eyes and a subversive wit, is trying to decide which of his eight children he will take with him to the county fair." Her name is Claire. Now, what if you were told that there is a common noun in the two sentences, Albert and classmate. Commas are not necessarily used in this type of appositive, such as in, “John’s friend, Michael, likes chocolates.” Here, John has others friends, but the statement is restricted to only Michael. Commas are also vital. Albert, my classmate, wants to play. An appositive may be introduced by a word or phrase such as namely, for example, or that is. Definition of appositive in the Fine Dictionary. These basically convey extra information of the noun, which could also be omitted from the sentence without altering its meaning. We went to Florida. "Though her cheeks were high-colored and her teeth strong and yellow, she looked like a mechanical woman, "I have had the great honor to have played with these great veteran ballplayers on my left—. The apartment had bugs, big brown cockroaches!As you can see, the appositives add information about the nouns. 1. "The village of Holcomb stands on the high wheat plains of western Kansas, "As I stood on the platform beneath another, fairly recent London civility—. Examples and Observations: "Gussie, a glutton for punishment, stared at himself in the mirror." (P.G. 3. Gehrig identifies a noun, “ballplayers,” by using the restrictive appositive “murderers row,” and he adds a noun “championship team.” These two appositives are used with commas and add meaning and significance to the sentence. Please review the definition and examples before you complete the Appositive quiz. 2. Black Beauty renames book. In the above excerpt, a restrictive appositive is clarifying and describing a noun “traditional gift.” Here, this literary device has appeared after the noun, specifying the type of gift. - Contact Us - Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions, Definition and Examples of Literary Terms. Examples of appositive phrases Willa Cather, an American novelist, wrote My Antonia. 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