How to Write an Appositive
In order to use appositives, it is important to remember that appositives are noun phrases rather than adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, or otherwise. To be an appositive, they must contain a noun.
- Find a noun in the sentence which can be elaborated on.
- Insert an appositive beside the noun.
For an example, begin with David the job-seeker:
Normal Sentence:
David applied for the job.
In this sentence, there are two nouns which can be elaborated on with appositives: “David” and “the job.”
Sentence with an Appositive 1:
David, a strong candidate, applied for the job.
Sentence with an Appositive 2:
David applied for the job, a position with a video production company.
Here is a second example:
Normal Sentence:
We had breakfast at the hotel.
In this example, “we,” “breakfast,” and “the hotel” could have appositives added to them.
Sentence with an Appositive 1:
A group of tourists on vacation in Rome, we had breakfast at the hotel.
Sentence with an Appositive 2:
We had breakfast at the hotel, a quaint little place called Hotel Rimini.
As is shown from these examples, appositives enrich sentences with more informative, complex sentences.
When to Use Appositives
Appositives can be used in poetry and prose; formal essays; dialogue in movies, television, and advertisements; and speeches. Appositives are considered appropriate and necessary in both formal and informal situations. The only time when appositives would seem inappropriate would be in situations when conciseness is prized over detail, such as highly technical and literal writing. In lab instructions, “Add pyridine, the basic heterocyclic organic compound with the chemical formula C₅H₅N, to the mixture” would be considered unnecessary in that scientists would be expected to know the specific details of what pyridine is if they are working with it. “Add pyridine” would suffice in such a specialized situation.