Appositives show up all over the ACT English test. Test makers often use them to make punctuation questions harder, so punctuation with appositives (or appositive phrases) tends to be some of the most challenging punctuation you’ll see on ACT English.
An appositive is a noun or pronoun placed beside another noun to explain or specify it. Appositives show up when a noun gets renamed. If it’s one word, it’s an appositive; if it’s multiple words, it’s an appositive phrase.
Here’s an example of a correct appositive.
Joe Biden, the president of the United States, gave a speech on TV today.
What’s the subject of the sentence? The verb is gave, so ask: who did the giving?
Is it the president of the United States or Joe Biden?
Answer: It’s both Joe Biden and the president of the United States - but there’s a catch (see below).
Both phrases refer to the same person. One renames the other. In this sentence, Joe Biden is the subject, and the president of the United States is the appositive because it comes second and renames the subject.
Once you’ve identified the appositive, the next question is: should you surround it with commas or not? The example above uses commas, but that’s not always correct. Look at this example:
Former president of the United States George W. Bush was in attendance.
This sentence has no commas. Why?
The difference is essential vs. nonessential information:
There’s only one current president of the United States, so naming that person is nonessential. You understand the sentence even without the name because “the president of the United States” can refer to only one person.
But there are many former presidents of the United States. If you say “former president of the United States,” you still need the name to know which one you mean. That makes the name essential, so you don’t use commas.
That’s the key rule:
Grammar doesn’t have to feel complicated on ACT English. In many cases, you can use a few reliable shortcuts.
Here are a few shortcuts you can use when you run into appositives on the ACT.
On the ACT, appositives are often surrounded by commas or dashes. A quick way to check whether the punctuation is working is to remove what’s between the commas or dashes.
For example, look at this sentence:
My sister, who is tall, plays basketball.
Here you have an independent clause with an appositive in the middle.
Because the appositive is set off with commas, you can insert it into the middle of the independent clause. You could also use dashes the same way.
My sister - who is tall - plays basketball.
Now remove the appositive (the words between the commas/dashes):
My sister plays basketball.
After removing the appositive, is there a complete sentence left over?
Answer: YES! Because an independent clause remains, the commas/dashes are being used correctly.
Be careful: this shortcut only works if the words between the commas/dashes are actually an appositive.
You can’t put just anything between commas/dashes. The inserted words must rename or describe a nearby noun (that is, they must function as an appositive).
Take a look at this sentence:
The most intelligent person, on planet earth, probably hasn’t been born yet.
If you use the shortcut by itself, you might think the commas are correct because the sentence still works without the phrase.
But the words “on planet earth” aren’t renaming anything. That means they aren’t an appositive, so the commas aren’t being used correctly.
Here’s another way to check whether commas/dashes are correct with appositives on ACT English.
Use this checklist to help you know when to use commas with appositives:
Let’s take a deeper look at applying each of these rules.
1. If you go from unspecific phrase to name, the name will not need to be set off by commas.
The author [unspecific] William Shakespeare wrote great tragedies.
2. If a sentence starts with a name (i.e., the most specific thing there is) and then a phrase (less specific than a name) that gives more information about the name, the phrase will be nonessential and therefore need to be set off by commas.
William Shakespeare [very specific], a prolific writer of plays [less specific], remains today a very mysterious character.
3. If a very specific bunch of words comes before a name, the name will come between commas.
The greatest of all English tragedies [very specific], Hamlet, was written sometime between 1599 and 1602.
Appositives rarely appear as “standalone” questions on ACT English. More often, they’re included inside punctuation questions to make the sentence structure harder to see.
To do well on appositive punctuation questions on ACT English, you’ll need to be familiar with the rules found in the [Linking dependent clauses] chapter and the semicolon and colon chapters.
You’ll also need to use these steps to find the correct answer.
Here’s how you’ll most likely see appositives on the ACT English test.
The rock known as kryptonite Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness, is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
A. NO CHANGE
B. kryptonite: Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
C. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
D. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
When you scan the answers, you’ll notice commas, a colon, and possibly an appositive (in answer D). With complicated punctuation questions, start by eliminating the obvious so you have fewer choices to compare.
Start with the outlier: the option that looks most different from the others.
Take another look at the options:
A. kryptonite Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
B. kryptonite: Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
C. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
D. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
Out of the options above, which option is least like all the other options?
Answer. B. Option B is the outlier because it’s the only option with a colon. So look at that one first.
To check option B, use the colon rules:
Now look at option B: “kryptonite: Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness…”
Hint
It may help to look at option B in the context of the whole sentence: The rock known as kryptonite: Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
Can you tell if the colon is being used correctly in option B?
Answer. Nope! “The rock known as kryptonite” is not an independent clause. Because there’s no independent clause on the left side of the colon, you can’t use a colon correctly.
Since you’ve eliminated the outlier, use step 2 to identify the independent clause and dependent clauses.
Let’s take another look at the question.
The rock known as kryptonite Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness, is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
A. NO CHANGE
B. kryptonite: Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
C. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness
D. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
Option A doesn’t create an independent clause (see below).
Part 1: The rock known as kryptonite Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
Part 2: …is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
For a sentence to be a complete sentence, it must contain an independent clause.
Is there an independent clause in Part 1 or Part 2 of this sentence?
Answer: Nope! With the comma placed this way, the sentence doesn’t contain an independent clause. So you can cross out A.
This is where it’s easy to make a mistake: you might think you see an independent clause when you don’t.
There are two ways to make the sentence contain an independent clause: option C and option D. But only one can be correct.
Let’s compare them.
If you look at C and D, both seem to create an independent clause (see the underlined portion of each sentence).
Option C: The rock known as kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
Option D: The rock known as kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness, is a radioactive remnant from her long-dead homeworld.
Which is the correct answer: option C or option D?
Hint 1:
Look at the dependent clause of option C (the part that isn’t underlined). Does that part connect smoothly with the independent clause? If it doesn’t, you can probably cross out option C.
Hint 2:
Option D places an appositive phrase in the middle of the sentence. If you remove the appositive and still have an independent clause, there’s a good chance option D is correct.
Now use step 3 to eliminate the answers that don’t connect the clauses correctly.
Which is the correct answer?
C. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness D. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,
Answer: Option D. kryptonite, Supergirl’s most dangerous weakness,… You need both commas to set off the appositive phrase. If you remove the appositive, you’re still left with an independent clause (a complete sentence).
Appositives can get complicated on the ACT. When you use the shortcuts and the clause-checking steps above, the punctuation becomes much easier to manage.