Students complete nine sentences about appositives and parenthetical elements — what appositives add, how to identify them, and when parenthetical elements can be removed. The matching activity pairs four sentences with their comma pattern: appositive in the middle, appositive at the end, parenthetical aside, and parenthetical clause.
Distinguishing appositives from parenthetical expressions is the most nuanced comma rule at Grade 5 and the one that requires the most explicit practice with examples.
Style:
Comma Rules
Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1. An appositive is set off by commas because it adds extra information about a noun.
2. In "My cat, Whiskers, loves to nap," the word "Whiskers" is an appositive.
3. A parenthetical element can be removed from a sentence without changing its main meaning.
4. The phrase "which was built in 1990" is a parenthetical element that gives extra detail.
5. Commas are placed both before and after an appositive in the middle of a sentence.
6. In "The movie, by the way, was excellent," the phrase "by the way" is a parenthetical expression.
7. If an appositive appears at the end of a sentence, only one comma is needed before it.
8. The phrase "a talented singer" in "Maria, a talented singer, performed at the show" renames the noun Maria.
9. Without commas, a reader might confuse an appositive phrase as part of the main idea.
Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1. Match each item to its correct answer.
"The test, I must admit, was harder than I expected."
→ Parenthetical aside expressing an opinion
Appositive in the middle of a sentence
"I called my best friend, Sophie."
→ Appositive at the end of a sentence
Parenthetical aside expressing an opinion
"Our town, a quiet place near the lake, has one school."
→ Appositive in the middle of a sentence
Parenthetical clause giving extra detail
"The book, which I read twice, is about space travel."
→ Parenthetical clause giving extra detail
Appositive at the end of a sentence
Comma Rules
★ Part A: Fill in the Blank
Write the missing word or number on each line.
1) An appositive is set off by commas because it adds extra information about a noun.
2) In "My cat, Whiskers, loves to nap," the word "Whiskers" is an appositive.
3) A parenthetical element can be removed from a sentence without changing its main meaning.
4) The phrase "which was built in 1990" is a parenthetical element that gives extra detail.
5) Commas are placed both before and after an appositive in the middle of a sentence.
6) In "The movie, by the way, was excellent," the phrase "by the way" is a parenthetical expression.
7) If an appositive appears at the end of a sentence, only one comma is needed before it.
8) The phrase "a talented singer" in "Maria, a talented singer, performed at the show" renames the noun Maria.
9) Without commas, a reader might confuse an appositive phrase as part of the main idea.
★ Part B: Matching
Match each item on the left to the correct answer on the right.
1) Match each item to its correct answer.
"The test, I must admit, was harder than I expected."
→ Parenthetical aside expressing an opinion
Appositive in the middle of a sentence
"I called my best friend, Sophie."
→ Appositive at the end of a sentence
Parenthetical aside expressing an opinion
"Our town, a quiet place near the lake, has one school."
→ Appositive in the middle of a sentence
Parenthetical clause giving extra detail
"The book, which I read twice, is about space travel."
→ Parenthetical clause giving extra detail
Appositive at the end of a sentence
Ready to Practice?
Complete each section carefully.
10 Questions
10-15 minutes
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