Language Arts Grade Four

Unit Seventeen, Lesson Two: Appositive Phrases

  1. address
  2. drought
  3. drop
  4. drill
  5. dream
  6. drain
  7. children
  8. drink
  9. sonic
  10. boom
  1. center
  2. figure
  3. agree
  4. moment
  5. script
  6. travel
  7. settlement
  8. tourist
  9. goggle
  10. freeway
Appositive Phrases

A phrase is a group of words. An appositive phrase provides information about a particular noun in a sentence. In the following examples, the appositive phrase is underlined: 


1) Jill's mouse, which used to belong to Jack, is completely black.

2) The mission, built by the Spanish two hundred years ago, is beautiful.

3) The dunes, some as high as 200 feet, are beautiful at sunset.
In the first sentence the appositive phrase provides more information about a mouse (the identify of its previous owner). In the second sentence the appositive phrase provides more information about a mission (who built it and how long ago it was built). In the last sentence the appositive phrase provides information about some dunes (how high some are).

Appositive phrases are fairly easy to recognize. Consider this example. 


  Jill put more wood in the stove, which was older than the house.
In this example the appositive is which was older than the house. It provides more information about the stove.

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