In the sentence 'David, the head boy of the school, has been absent', what is the function of the phrase 'the head boy of the school'?

In the sentence 'David, the head boy of the school, has been absent', what is the function of the phrase 'the head boy of the school'?

• A. Subject
• B. Appositive
• C. Predicate
• D. Object

Answer: (B)

That phrase serves as an appositive—the part of the sentence that renames David and adds extra information about him. It’s set off by commas, which shows it’s not essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you remove it, the sentence still reads: David has been absent, so the core message about the subject and the verb remains the same. Since the subject is David and the verb phrase is has been absent, there’s no object receiving an action here. The appositive simply provides a descriptive label for the subject and is nonessential, which is exactly what an appositive (in this nonrestrictive form) does.

That phrase serves as an appositive—the part of the sentence that renames David and adds extra information about him. It’s set off by commas, which shows it’s not essential to the meaning of the sentence. If you remove it, the sentence still reads: David has been absent, so the core message about the subject and the verb remains the same. Since the subject is David and the verb phrase is has been absent, there’s no object receiving an action here. The appositive simply provides a descriptive label for the subject and is nonessential, which is exactly what an appositive (in this nonrestrictive form) does.