Appositives & Parenthetical Comments

Appositives

An appositive renames the noun or pronoun it follows.  If omitting the appositive would change the meaning of the sentence, then do not set it apart with commas.  If the “renaming” does not change the meaning, then use commas.

 Parenthetical Comments

Parenthetical comments are those which can be left out but are included to add color or personality to the sentence.

Exercises:

Insert the commas for the appositives.

1.      Pride and Prejudice a book by Jane Austen is one of my favorite novels.

2.      Houston the largest city in Texas was named after Sam Houston.

3.      The speaker who had risen from his chair to begin his talk fell off the platform.

4.      The athletes for whom the party was given broke into singing the school song.

5.      The dog that ran under the chair was the one who had eaten her shoe.

6.      The truck that changed around the corner finally broke down across the street.

Insert commas for the parenthetical phrases.

1.      Believe it or not I haven’t been home a single night this week.

2.      I know Susan was at the party I spoke with her myself bu she may have left early.

3.      Then I thought oh dear I’ve lost my wallet.

4.      I have an idea let’s call Robert and Jill and take them out for dinner.

5.      Your mother called an oh yes she said you left your history book at home.

Misc. Sentences

1.      The clock which had been ticking very loudly burst a spring and flew off the wall.

2.      Down in the valley where the grass is greener than it is anywhere else you can see the men on tractors and other equipment.

3.      My friends Hannah and Rebecca whom I haven’t seen for six years are coming to visit me this week.

4.      The old car that sat in the driveway all winter was finally hauled away.

5.      The man who broke into our house while we were away was arrested.