A noun phrase that refers to the same person, place, or thing directly after another noun or noun phrase is an appositive phrase. Let us learn in detail about it with examples.
Some appositive phrases examples are listed below:
- The boy, a player, has a good cricketing sense.
- The lady, a teacher of school, leads the program.
- The sun, a star, is the main part of the solar system.
- The girl, a student, is good in her academic.
- Rabindranath Tagore, a great poet, composed the “Song Offerings.”
- The Mount Everest, the highest peak, is in the Himalayas.
- The Ganges, the largest river of India, meets in the Bay of Bengal.
- Two of my friends Akash and Vinay are selected for a company job.
- The beauty of nature, an excellent overview, has stolen my heart.
- A small FIAT, my car, is completely full.
- A big cricket ground, Melbourne Australia, is fully packed up today.
- The Kashmir Files, a Hindi film, is directed in 2022 by Vivek Agnihotri.
- New Delhi, a mega city, is a capital of India.
- The Taj Mahal, a wonderful mausoleum, is one of seven wonders of world.
- The butterfly, a colourful insect, is attractive to look.
- Her uncle Mr. Bose will come from New York tomorrow.
- My brother, Animesh is doctor of The AIIMS.
- Sachin Tendulkar, an Indian cricketer, was awarded The Bharat Ratna.
- The peacock, a bird, has colourful wings.
- The Indian farmer, a bread-giver, grows crops for the countrymen.
- The camel, a means of transport, is called the Ship of Desert.
- The man, unknown to all, rescued a drowning child in a pond.
- John Keats, a romantic poet, wrote “Ode to autumn”.
- Mr. Das, IT professional has started a business.
- Botany a subject of plant is a branch of Life Science.
- Suhana, my sister, lives in Canada.
- My best friend Rumeli lives in Midnapore.
- William Shakespeare, an English author, wrote the famous play “Romeo and Juliet”.
- Mr. Sunil, my teacher, is excellent at English.
- Mona Lisa, the world famous painting, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
- Lata Mangeskar, a great singer of India, is called the Goddess of singing.
Appositive phrases can be two types – essential (restrictive appositives) and non essential (nonrestrictive). Restrictive appositive phrase is required for the sentence to convey the complete meaning. Nonrestrictive appositive phrases give additional details about the preceding noun and the meaning of the sentence will not change even if it is removed.
Appositive phrase sentences with detailed explanation
1. The sun, a star, is the main part of the solar system.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘a star’ is nonrestrictive appositive phrases since it follows the noun ‘the sun’, by giving additional details about it.
2. Rabindranath Tagore, a great poet, composed the Song Offerings.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘a great poet’ is a non essential appositive phrases since it follows the noun ‘Rabindranath Tagore’ by giving extra details about who he is.
3. The Ganges, the largest river of India, meets in the Bay of Bengal.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘the largest river of India’ is a non essential appositive phrase as it succeeds the noun ‘The Ganges”, by giving extra details about it.
4. Two of my friends Akash and Vinay are selected for a company job.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘Akash and Vinay’ essential appositive phrases as it follows the noun phrase ‘two of my friends’ by telling their names.
5. The Kashmir Files, a Hindi film, is directed in 2022 by Vivek Agnihotri.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘a Hindi film’ non essential appositive phrases which follows the noun ‘The Kashmir Files’ by giving the details of the film.
6. The Taj Mahal a wonderful mausoleum is one of seven wonders of world.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘a wonderful mausoleum’ is non essential appositives phrase that follows the noun ‘the Taj Mahal’ by giving extra information about the monument.
7. Her uncle Mr. Bose will come from New York tomorrow.
Explanation: In this sentence, ’Mr. Bose’ is an essential appositive since it follows the noun phrase ‘her uncle’ by telling which uncle of hers will come from New York tomorrow.
8. The camel, a means of transport, is called the Ship of Desert.
Explanation: In this sentence, ‘a means of transport’ is a non-essential appositive phrase that follows the noun ‘the camel’ by providing additional details about it.
9. William Shakespeare, an English author, wrote the famous play “Romeo and Juliet”.
Explanation: In the above sentence, ‘an English author’ is the non – essential appositive phrase which follows the naming word ‘William Shakespeare’ by telling details about who he is.
10. Mona Lisa, the world famous painting, was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
Explanation: Here in this sentence, ‘the world famous painting’ is the non –essential appositive phrase that follows the naming ‘Mona Lisa’ by telling more details about the painting.
Appositive phrase definition
An appositive phrase is a noun phrase which redefines or modifies another naming word (noun or noun phrase) with essential(restrictive appositive) or non essential details and information. Appositive phrases provide more context and clarity for a noun by clarifying it with another noun or noun phrase.
Appositive phrases rules
The rules to be followed while using appositive phrases are as follows:
- Appositive phrases should be placed right after a noun or a noun phrase.
- Appositive phrases can be used to complement both the subject and object of a sentence as both the subject and the object will be naming words (nouns/noun phrases).
- If the appositional phrase is an essential (restrictive appositives one, then no commas should be added before or after the phrase.
- If the appositional phrase is a non essential one, then commas should be added before and after the phrase, in order to separate it from the rest of the sentence.
Appositive phrases uses
The uses of the appositive phrases are listed below:
- Appositive phrase provide additional details about a noun, pronoun, or a noun phrase.
- Appositive phrase modify or qualify a noun or a noun phrase.
- Appositive phrases are used to give extra information about the subject or object of a sentence, thereby doing the function of an adjective.
When to use appositive phrases?
The situations when appositive phrases can be used are given below:
- Appositive phrases must be used immediately after a noun or pronoun or a noun phrase (naming words) in a sentence, if some essential (restrictive appositives) or non –essential information about that noun, pronoun or noun phrase has to be said.
- Appositive phrases can be used to modify the nouns that act as both subject and object of a sentence.
When to not use appositive phrases?
Appositive phrases must not be used after any other part of speech other than naming words (noun or pronoun).
Appositive phrase Vs appositive
| Appositive Phrase | Appositive |
| 1. Appositive phrase is nothing but a group of words (phrase) which follows right after the noun or noun phrase by providing extra details about it. | 1. Appositive is nothing but a single noun which follows another noun or noun phrase by giving additional information about it. |
| 2. Example: John Keats, a romantic poet, wrote “Ode to autumn”. | 2. Example: My teacher Vihaan is from New Delhi. |
Appositive phrase Vs Adjective Clause
| Appositive Phrase | Adjective Clause |
| 1. Appositive phrase is a phrase which does not contain a subject and a verb. | 1. Adjective Clause is a clause that contains a subject and verb. |
| 2. Appositive phrase is nothing but a noun phrase. | 2. Adjective clause is a dependent clause that always starts with adverbs or relative pronouns. |
| 3. It renames redefines or describes a noun or noun phrase. | 3. It does not redefine or rename but only modifies or describes. |
| 4. Example: Suhana, my sister, lives in Canada. | 4. Example: The man who robbed the house is caught by the police. |
Appositive phrase Vs absolute phrase
| Appositive Phrase | Absolute Phrase |
| 1. Appositive phrase renames or describes a noun, noun phrase or a pronoun by giving extra details. | 1. Absolute phrase does not describe any particular word in a sentence, but modifies a whole independent sentence by giving extra details. |
| 2. Appositive phrase is a noun phrase. | 2. Absolute phrase consists of nouns and their modifiers. |
| 3. Example: Lata Mangeskar, a great singer of India, is called the Goddess of singing. | 3. Example: Rihan left the city, totally unaware that he was there. |
Conclusion
Thus, appositive phrases help us to know additional information about the nouns or noun phrases that precedes them. A sentence can hence have more than one appositive phrases.
