In a language there is occasion to identify words further, for instance, if you and talking about a large group people, and you want to single out one person, you can place an appositive in the sentence to identify the person you are talking about. An appositive is a noun or a pronoun that is placed next top another noun or pronoun to identify it or give additional information about it. An appositive phrase is an appositive plus any words that modify the appositive. A knowledge of your language’s grammar assists in understanding other languages as well.

 An example of an appositive would be: “My sister ‘Jodi’ works at the hospital.” [the appositive ‘Jodi’ identifies the noun ‘sister’] An example of an appositive phrase would be: “She works with Dr. Martin, ‘an award-winning pediatrician’.” [the appositive phrase, ‘an award-winning pediatrician’, identifies Dr. Martin.]

 Use commas to set off any appositive or appositive phrase that is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. For example, 1 “Jodi’s coworker ‘Emma’ has five children.” [the appositive Emma is essential because Jodi has more than one coworker.] 2 “Emma’s husband, ‘Phil’, is a carpenter.” [The appositive ‘Phil’ is not essential because Emma has only one husband.]

 Usually an appositive or an appositive phrase follows the noun or pronoun it identifies or explains. Occasionally an appositive phrase precedes the noun or pronoun. For instance, “’A compassionate person, Jodi has many patients’.” [The appositive phrase ‘A compassionate person’ identifies the proper noun, Jodi, and precedes the noun.]