We write because we love it. We love the topic that we talk about, so much so in fact that we talk about it every week. Because of this fact, appositives are useful to understand so that you can successfully navigate them into your blog and express your true feelings about your topic.
Without even realizing it, you’re probably already using appositives. An appositive renames the noun proceeding it or in some cases the noun directly after it. You probably already do this without knowing it.
For example:
“Jasmine, the long legged lovely lady, is known for her pumpkin pies.”
This example tells the reader a lot. Appositives give the readers more information. In this example Jasmine is described in different terms. This gives the reader not only more information about the person in question, but also gives your writing more “oomph”.
Look at these examples (the appositives are bolded):
“My mom Carol will call me after work.”
“The cat, an animal a part of the feline family, walked down the road.”
“Alex’s car, the red junk pile in the garage, is leaking oil.”
“That big fat jerk, Ray shouldn’t be allowed to play rugby.”
Appositives describe nouns by giving more information and giving the reader something else to sink their teeth into.
What about punctuation?
With appositives, punctuation is important. If you don’t use the correct punctuation with appositives, you might end up saying something that you don’t mean or something that doesn’t make sense.
Example:
“Rosie the second grade teacher is drastically different from Rosie the gardener.”
If you use commas in this sentence then it would essentially say “Rosie is drastically different from Rosie.” The reason why you do not use commas with the appositives in this example is because you need them to understand the sentence.
Example:
“Rosie, the second grade teacher, is drastically different from Jack.”
With this example you need to use commas with the appositive because it is not essential information. With appositives, any information that you don’t really need, or just added for more information, is separated by commas.
I don't know Patricia… I'm a big fan of logical structure which I think helps people's uptake of my content. I'd rather introduce the subject in a sentence all to itself and then go on with the story in another…
I try to organise my writing with the minimum of commas. Each sentence is a complete little bite.
But rules are made to be broken so I'll be keeping an eye out for exceptions where an appositive might add the oomph described!
I completely agree! Most of the time you don't need appositives. They are something that you see all of the time in creative writing, but not so much in blogs. Using them sparingly is always the best. Rules are meant to be broken, for sure! I love that you mentioned that, but it's always better to know the rule so you can break it rather than being ignorant of your errors.
Great comment!
Hi! Thanks for this informative note.
Interesting, I don't really make much use of these, unintentionally or otherwise. I can see that in some cases they might be useful, but it would be very easy to become highly annoying by overdoing this.
Sometimes more information is not helpful, it's just more.
The average blog writer needs to be careful not to use a literary tool just because it sounds good. Habitual use of any style in your writing can become redundant and loose it's power to engage the reader.
You sound all fired up about appositives, positive or otherwise. You are right that some information is not helpful, and many blogs should stay away from appositives, but it's always useful to have another grammar tool under your belt.
I don't really understand appositive to the full yet. But I know it's about that appositive. emm…remind me of the saying "Don't Worry Be Crappy". Thanks
Nice post, felt let like I was back in HS english
Good Memories.
When I was in high school, I only heard "blah blah blah", and prayed that I could pass the test