Appositives are nouns, pronouns, or noun- or prounun-phrases which mean the same thing as some nearby noun or pronoun or phrase.

Example:

We caught only one fish, a huge and ugly sheepshead.

The underlined phrase is said to be "in apposition" to the bolded phrase. "In apposition to" simply means "positioned next to."

Copy into the box the phrase to which the underlined phrase stands in apposition:

Only two disciples—my brother and I—remained.

Copy into the box the phrase that is in apposition to "only two remaining disciples":

Jones had only two remaining disciples: my brother and me.

Step 1: Determine whether there is an appositive in the sentence. Punctuation and meaning help you here.

Punctuation: A dash, a colon, or a comma can introduce an appositive:


Only two disciples—my brother and I—remained.
Only two disciples, my brother and I, remained.
Jones had only two remaining disciples: my brother and me.
Jones had only two remaining disciples, my brother and me.
Meaning: The meaning of the appositives so introduced is "And this is who they are/were."

Your Task: Choose the sentence containing an appositive:

Step 2: Locate the word or phrase to which the appositive stands in apposition. We can call it what the appositive "renames," for appositives are renaming phrases. Rely a little on the appositive's position but mostly on common sense.

Position: Most appositives come right after the words they rename, but some are given emphasis by being placed at the very end of a sentence even though they stand in apposition to a much earlier word or phrase:

Only two disciples remained: my brother and I.
Common Sense: If the appositive means "And this is who they were," you just work backwards and find the other words that name the people referred to: "Only two disciples."

Your Task: Copy into the box the phrase the underlined appositive renames:

Our grand prize winners, Marcia and Henry, will receive two tickets to The Beast Within.

Which sentence contains an appositive?

Which sentence contains an appositive?

Which sentence contains an appositive?

Which sentence contains an appositive?

Copy into the box the word or phrase that the underlined appositive renames:

The tour should include the Butler Institute of American Art, one of the finest art museums in the state.

Copy into the box the word or phrase that the underlined appositive renames:

Helga brought a new vegetarian dish to the party: west coast pasta.

Copy into the box the word or phrase that the underlined appositive renames:

A little iPod that the secretary brought, a shiny plastic box with a microphone attached, recorded the meeting.

Copy into the box the word or phrase that the underlined appositive renames:

MacArthur's parting words promised more than he could deliver: "I shall return."

Copy into the box the word or phrase that the underlined appositive renames:

The fifteen members at the meeting unanimously elected new co-chairs: Evelyn Mahaffey and me.

Now we come to the part you have been waiting for: Why "me" and not "I" in the preceding sentence? The reason is that the phrase "Evelyn Mahaffey and me" stands in apposition to "new co-chairs," which serves as the direct object of the verb "elected." That is the reason for using the objective case, "me."

Learn this rule: An appositive is always in the same case as the word or phrase it renames.