Appositives
Appositives
Appositives
Your friend Bill is in trouble.
friends.
a hospital tour.
Punctuation of appositives
In some cases, the noun being explained is too general without the appositive;
the information is essential to the meaning of the sentence. When this is the
case, do not place commas around the appositive; just leave it alone. If the
sentence would be clear and complete without the appositive, then commas
are necessary; place one before and one after the appositive.
inspirational speeches.
John Kennedy, the popular US president, was known for his eloquent and
inspirational speeches.
Here, we do not put commas around either appositive because they are both
essential to understanding the sentence. Without the appositives, the
sentence would just be John Kennedy was quite different from John Kennedy.
We wouldn't know what qualities of John Kennedy were being referred to
without the appositive.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/596/1/