Question

Identify the appositive in the below sentence :
The Blessed Mary, mother of Jesus, was married to Joseph.
a) Mother of Jesus
b) Married to Joseph
c) Blessed Mary
d) Jesus

Answer 1

Hint: An appositive noun or noun phrase follows another noun and noun phrase in the apposition of it, that is, it provides information that further identifies or defines it.

Complete answer:
The appositive noun/noun phrase describes the first noun. It usually is preceded by a comma or a hyphen. Sometimes, it follows the first noun and is given in brackets. In the given sentence, the first noun phrase “The blessed Mary” is a proper noun, indicating a name of a person. This noun is followed by a comma and a noun phrase, “mother of Jesus”. This noun phrase is describing the first noun phrase.
Now, let us examine all the given options to find out the correct answer :
Option ‘a’ is the Mother of Jesus. This is the only correct option as “the blessed Mary” is followed by it and it describes the first noun phrase.
Option ‘b’ is Married to Joseph. This cannot be the correct answer as it is preceded by a verb “was”. It is also not immediately following the noun phrase.
Option ‘c’ is Blessed Mary. This phrase is not following any phrase, so this cannot be the correct answer.
Option ‘d’ is Jesus. This is also an incorrect answer.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can easily figure out the correct answer. Here, the sentence is – The Blessed Mary, mother of Jesus, was married to Joseph. The appositive in this sentence is the phrase “mother of Jesus”.
So, the correct answer is “Option a”.

Note:
Don’t get confused between “Mother of Jesus” and “was married to Joseph” as the latter is not describing the former.