Skill 3: Be Careful of Appositives

Previous Skill: Be careful of object of prepositions (Skill 3).

Appositives can cause confusion in structure questions on the TOEFL test because an appositive can be mistaken for the subject of a sentence. An appositive is a noun that comes before or after another noun and has the same meaning.

In this example Sally is the subject of the sentence and the best student in the class can easily be recognized as an appositive phrase because of the noun student and because of the commas. The sentence says that Sally and the best student in the class are the same person. Note that if you leave out the appositive phrase, the sentence still makes sense (Sally got an A on the exam).

The following example shows how an appositive can be confused with the subject of a sentence in structure questions on the TOEFL test.

Example I

_____, George, is attending the lecture.

(A) Right now

(B) Happily

(C) Because of the time

(D) My friend

In this example you should recognize from the commas that George is not the subject of the sentence. George is an appositive. Because this sentence still needs a subject, the best answer is (D), my friend. Answers (A), (B), and (C) are incorrect because they are not subjects.

The next example shows that an appositive does not always come after the subject; an appositive can also come at the beginning of the sentence.

Example II

_____, Sarah rarely misses her basketball shots.

(A) An excellent basketball player
(B) An excellent basketball player is
(C) Sarah is an excellent basketball player
(D) Her excellent basketball play

In this example you can tell that Sarah is the subject and misses is the verb because there is no comma separating them. In the space you should put an appositive for Sarah, and Sarah is an excellent basketball player, so answer (A) is the best answer. Answers (B) and (C) are not correct because they each contain the verb is, and an appositive does not need a verb. Answer (D) contains a noun, play, that could possibly be an appositive, but play is not the same as Sarah, so this answer is not correct.

The following chart outlines the key information that you should remember about appositives:
 

Exercise 3:

Each of following sentence has an appositive. Check Subject and Verb. Then indicate if the sentence is correct (C) or incorrect (I).

1. The son of the previous owner, the new owner is undertaking some fairly broad changes in management policy. (C)

    Analysis:

• The son of the previous owner is appositive phrase. The new owner is subject and is undertaking is verb.

2. Last semester, a friend, graduated cum laude from university. (I)

    Analysis:

• a friend is appositive sentence. The verb is graduated, but there is no Subject.

3. Valentine's day, February 14, is a special holiday for sweethearts. (C)


    Analysis:

• February 14 is appositive phrase. Subject is Valentine's day and Subject is "is"

4. At long last, the chief executive officer, has decided to step down. (I)

    Analysis:

• the chief executive officer is appositive phrase. Verb is has decided, but there is no verb.

5. Tonight's supper, leftovers from the last night, didn't taste any better tonight than last night. (C)

    Analysis:

• leftovers from the last night is appositive. Subject is Tonight's supper and Verb is didn't taste.

6. The only entrance to the closet, the door was kept locked at all times. (C)

    Analysis:

• The only entrance to the closet is appositive. Subject is the door and Verb is "was".

7. In the cold of winter, a wall heating unit, would not turn on.(I)

    Analysis:

• a wall heating unit is appositive. Verb is would not turn, but there is not Subject.  

8. The new tile pattern, yellow flower on a white background, really brightens up the room.(C)

    Analysis:

• yellow flower on a white background is appositive. Subject is The new tile pattern and Verb is brightens up.

9. The high-powered computer the most powerful machine of its type, was finally readied for use. (I)

    Analysis:

• There is no comma.
• It should be the high-powered computer, the most ..................

10. A longtime friend and confident, the psychologist was often invited over for Sunday dinner. (C)

      Analysis:

• A longtime friend and confident is appositive. Subject is the psychologist and Verb is was.