Worksheet on using commas for appositives with practice exercises.

Final Answer:
1. Mr. Lowe, who wears an old hat, is worn out his baseball cap.
2. Joel, a friend of mine, steps to talk to Mr. Lowe.
3. They laugh over the antics of Thursday, their dog.
4. Thursday barks at Ms. Buckley, the postman.
5. Another neighbor, Kenya Wells, comes by with her dog.
6. Add a comma or commas to set off the appositive in each sentence.
7. Kenya’s dog Dotty is not as big as Thursday.
8. The excited dog Thursday and Dotty start chasing one another.
9. Joel a fast runner quickly grabs Thursday’s leash.
10. Kenya picks up Dotty, a squirming terrier.
11. Mr. Lowe on understanding man moves on down the block.
12. He reaches his destination, a bench by the corner.
13. He settles onto the bench, a good place for a rest.

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Explanation:
We need to find the appositive in each sentence — that’s a phrase that renames or explains a noun right next to it. Then we add commas *before* and *after* that phrase (unless it’s at the beginning or end of the sentence).

Let’s go one by one:

1. “who wears an old hat” describes Mr. Lowe → commas around it: *Mr. Lowe, who wears an old hat, is worn out his baseball cap.*
(Note: “is worn out his baseball cap” seems like a typo — probably meant “wears out his baseball cap”, but we fix only punctuation.)

2. “a friend of mine” explains who Joel is. So: *Joel, a friend of mine, steps to talk to Mr. Lowe.*

3. “their dog” explains who Thursday is. So: *They laugh over the antics of Thursday, their dog.*

4. “the postman” explains who Ms. Buckley is. So: *Thursday barks at Ms. Buckley, the postman.*

5. “another neighbor” is the subject; “Kenya Wells” is the appositive renaming her. So: *Another neighbor, Kenya Wells, comes by with her dog.*

6. This is an instruction — no change needed.

7. “Dotty” is the dog’s name, and “Kenya’s dog” is the noun phrase — actually, “Dotty” is the appositive renaming “Kenya’s dog”. So: *Kenya’s dog, Dotty, is not as big as Thursday.*
But wait — in standard usage, when the appositive is a proper name *immediately after* the noun it renames, we usually use commas: *Kenya’s dog, Dotty, is…*

8. “Thursday and Dotty” are two dogs — “the excited dog Thursday” means “Thursday” is an appositive renaming “the excited dog”. So: *The excited dog, Thursday, and Dotty start chasing one another.*
However, this is tricky — better to treat “Thursday” as appositive: *The excited dog, Thursday, and Dotty…*
But many style guides would say if you have “the excited dog Thursday”, it’s missing commas: → *The excited dog, Thursday, and Dotty…*

9. “a fast runner” describes Joel. So: *Joel, a fast runner, quickly grabs Thursday’s leash.*

10. “a squirming terrier” describes Dotty. So: *Kenya picks up Dotty, a squirming terrier.*

11. “on understanding man” seems off — likely meant “an understanding man”, and it’s describing Mr. Lowe. So: *Mr. Lowe, an understanding man, moves on down the block.*

12. “a bench by the corner” explains what “his destination” is. So: *He reaches his destination, a bench by the corner.*

13. “a good place for a rest” explains what “the bench” is. So: *He settles onto the bench, a good place for a rest.*

We only add commas around non-essential appositives — ones that can be removed without changing the core meaning. All these are non-essential, so commas go both sides.