What is an Appositive Phrase?

Answer: An appositive phrase is a grammatical construction that provides additional information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence.

It consists of a noun or noun phrase placed next to another noun or pronoun to identify, explain, or rename it. Appositive phrases are set off by commas and function to offer non-essential information, contributing extra details that enhance the reader’s understanding of the subject. For example, in the sentence “My friend, an experienced chef, prepared dinner,” the appositive phrase “an experienced chef” provides additional information about the noun “friend.” The sentence would still be grammatically complete without the appositive, as it is non-essential to the main idea.

Appositive phrases can be restrictive or non-restrictive. Restrictive appositives are necessary for the sentence’s meaning, while non-restrictive appositives provide additional but optional, information. An example of a non-restrictive appositive would be “My brother, the doctor, is visiting next week,” where the appositive phrase “the doctor” is non-essential to understanding which brother is being referred to.