Find Appositives in a Biography Paragraph

Begin with the biography paragraph so students find appositives in real prose. Then move to the combining sheets and finish with the comma sheet as a quick check.

Underline 8 appositive phrases in a biography of astronomer Henrietta Swan Leavitt. An appositive phrase sits right beside a noun and renames it. Its main word is also a noun, as in my aunt, a skilled pilot. The directions on the page read: The paragraph has 8 appositive phrases. Underline each appositive phrase. Then circle the noun it renames. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 8th grade sentences, and it works the same at home or at school. At home, a student can work through it alone and then go over it with you, which shows quickly what is solid and what needs another look. In class it works as independent practice, homework or a warm-up, and you can print one copy or a full set.

Commas set off an appositive when the sentence still names the same person or thing without it. Use a comma after it at the start, commas on both sides in the middle and a comma before it at the end.

An appositive is built on a noun, a participial phrase starts with an ing or ed verb form and a clause has its own subject and verb. Appositive, Participial Phrase or Clause? practices telling them apart.

Yes. Two appositives can rename two different nouns, as in Ana, a baker, sold her best bread, a honey loaf. Combine Three Sentences With Two Appositives practices this with inventors such as Mary Anderson.