Practice in Identifying Appositives in Sentences

As we've seen in What Is an Appositive?, an appositive is a word or group of words that concisely identifies or renames another word in a sentence. The exercise on this page offers practice in identifying appositives.

Exercise

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How to Build Sentences with Appositives

By Richard Nordquist

Some of the sentences below contain adjective clauses; others contain appositives. Identify the adjective clause or appositive in each sentence; then compare your responses with the answers below. (If you run into problems, review Building Sentences with Appositives.)

1. John Reed, an American journalist, helped found the Communist Labor Party in America.
2. My sister, who is a supervisor at Munchies, drives a company car.
3. I took a cookie from Gretel, who is the woodcutter's daughter.
4. I took a cookie from Gretel, the woodcutter's daughter.
5. Og, the King of Bashan, was saved from the flood by climbing onto the roof of the ark.
6. I once saw Margot Fonteyn, the famous ballerina.
7. Elkie Fern, who is a professional botanist, led the kids on a nature hike.
8. Elsa, a good country woman, has a daughter named Ulga.
9. Paul Revere, who was a silversmith and a soldier, is famous for his "midnight ride."
10. I read a biography of Disraeli, the 19th-century statesman, and novelist.

Answers to the exercise:

1. appositive: an American journalist
2. adjective clause: who is a supervisor at Munchies
3. adjective clause: who is the woodcutter's daughter
4. appositive: the woodcutter's daughter
5. appositive: the King of Bashan
6. appositive: the famous ballerina
7. adjective clause: who is a professional botanist
8. appositive: a good country woman
9. adjective clause: who was a silversmith and a soldier
10. appositive: the 19th-century statesman and novelist