Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon
to set off an appositive.

An appositive is a noun that is placed next to
another noun or pronoun to rename it or to
give additional information about it.
◦ An appositive phrase is a group of words that
includes an appositive and other words that
describe the appositive.

Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon
to set off an appositive.
Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon
to set off an appositive.
Weak sentences:
 She is involved in two organizations. One is
the high school theater group, and one is the
hockey team.
Best Sentence (PCL):
Model sentence: Appositive with compound
element.
 She is involved in two organizations: the high
school theater group and the hockey team.
Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon
to set off an appositive.
Weak simple sentences:
 Jeff asked for two things. He asked for a
biscuit and lemonade.
◦ This is weak because “Jeff asked” and “he asked”
mean the same thing; so it is wordy and repeats
for no purpose.
Best Sentence (PCL):
 Jeff asked for two things, a biscuit and
lemonade.
Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon to
set off an appositive.
These are weak simple sentences because they
repeat words for no purpose. The second
sentence is an “Oh, I forgot to tell you”
sentence structure. Watch out for linking verbs
(is, are, was, were, will be, has been, was
being)

Mother said the play was a farce. A farce is a
light humorous play.
Best Sentence (PCL)—Model:
 Mother said the play was a farce—a light
humorous play.
Use commas, dashes, parentheses, or a colon
to set off an appositive.
This is a weak simple sentence with an “Oh, I
forgot to tell you” sentence structure.

She usually visits New York. New York is
known as the Big Apple.
Best Sentence (PCL)
 She
usually visits New York
(known as the Big Apple).
This is a weak simple sentence with a linking
verb.
 Entering the room were the two freshmen.
They were Ines Aran and Hidori Kato.
Best Sentence (PCL):
 Entering the room were two freshmen: Ines
Aran and Hidori Kato.
Weak compound sentence:
 Raquel did some of the artwork, and she is a
budding artist.
Best Sentence (PLC):
 A budding artist, Raquel did some of the
artwork.
 Raquel, a budding artist, did some of the
artwork.
1. All of the food was prepared by his
father. His father is a creative chef.
2. The vase was smashed, and it was an
antique.
3. Chris belongs to several
organizations, and he is a busy
person.
4. A solitary figure stood on the open
deck, and she was a small woman with
a shawl.
1. All of the food was prepared by his father, a
creative chef.
2. An antique, the vase was smashed.
The vase (an antique) was smashed.
3. A busy person, Chris belongs to several
organizations.
Chris, a busy person, belongs to several
organizations.
4. A solitary figure, a small woman with a
shawl, stood on the open deck.