The Artistry of Appositives

One of my favorite strategies to teach writers is the effective use of appositives. I like to show kids how appositives, like prepositional phrases, can create a wonderful context for the sentence.

So, what’s wrong with adjectives? 

Usually, with younger writers, we might simply encourage the use of strong adjectives to be placed in front of nouns, and the adjectives work just fine. But in order to help your slightly older kids to elevate their writing, teach them the artistry of appositives. We don’t want students to think that adjectives are the only tool in their Parts of Speech Tool Chest. There are other ways to modify nouns and pronouns. To help build an appreciation for selecting just the right way to say something, appositives are a good go-to.

A positive what?!? 

Appositives are phrases that you set off with commas, and you usually position them just after the word you want described. The appositive is really just a renaming or modified version of the word it follows. Here is an example from one of the Mover and Shaker Sentence activities featured in Shurley English:

In this case, we have the direct object noun, Jackson’s Market. Notice that I have set the appositive off with a comma just before the phrase and right after it. Then, by strategically placing the appositive just after Jackson’s Market, I have modified the direct object without listing simple adjectives in front of it. It adds a bit of zing to the sentence, don’t you think?

Give it a try.

When your young writing scholar has scraped the bottom of the adjective bucket, it’s time to refill the bucket with some appositives. You can help writers get used to this strategy by brainstorming some basic nouns and appositive phrases that do a good job of modifying them. Keep your list of nouns and appositives handy by posting a Matching Wall of Words, specially designed to help writers find just the right appositive phrases to go with the noun of their choice. Over time, the use of appositives will become second nature. So, get out there and practice the skill of writing with appositives.

How to Use the Hyphen Correctly

Knowing how to use punctuation marks correctly is important in any type of writing.  As many of you know, it takes years of practice to apply punctuation rules like an expert.  Recently, the proper use of a hyphen sparked my curiosity, and even though I’ve been using hyphens for years, I decided it was time to revisit the rules for using that “little line.” 

A hyphen is a punctuation mark (-) that is used to form some compound words and adjectives. It is also used to connect the syllables of a word that has been divided at the end of a line. The rules for using a hyphen are straightforward, but a writer can choose to add them for clarity if necessary.  Let’s take a look at the rules!

Whether you’ve tried to use a hyphen in your writing or completely avoided them like so many do, now that you know the rules, you can try adding them once in a while.  The use of hyphens can add voice and personality to your writing! So, go have some fun experimenting with hyphens! 

What is an appositive?

Appositives don’t have to be complicated.  You just need to know (a) what they are, (b) how to punctuate them properly, and (c) how to use them to your advantage.  When you understand these three things, you can use them any time they’re necessary in a competent and confident way.

First of all, an appositive is a noun or pronoun placed after another noun or pronoun to identify, rename, or explain it.  It’s always located in apposition because it’s placed next to the noun or certain pronouns that it serves to develop. 

In the first example, the appositive is set off by commas to indicate that the appositive is not essential to the basic meaning of the sentence.  If we drop the appositive, the meaning of the sentence will not change. 

In the second example, the appositive is not set off by commas because it is necessary to define the noun that came before it.  This appositive can’t be dropped from the sentence without taking away a huge part of the sentences’ meaning.

When an appositive has its own modifiers, it is called an appositive phrase.  Like other appositives, the appositive phrase acts as an adjective because it is describing a noun or certain pronouns in a sentence. 

Appositives can be used to your advantage when you’re writing.  Not only are they useful in identifying, renaming, and explaining other words, appositives make it possible for you to put more words into one sentence.