Question

What type of punctuation is necessary to set apart nonessential appositive phrases?

Answer 1

An appositive phrase is a noun or a noun phrase that renames, identifies or gives further information of another noun right beside it. Now, this type of phrase can be either restrictive or nonrestrictive (when it's not essential to the sentence, and therefore should be set off with a type of punctuation).

The type of punctuation used in nonessential or nonrestrictive appositive phrases are commas, dashes or brackets. Here are some examples:

Mariana -that girl with the red jacket- is not from here.

My cat, Tigor, does not eat fish.

I need to clean up those shoes (The ones with the red bow).

Answer 2

commas, dashes, or parentheses

Nonessential appositive phrases can be separated from the rest of a sentence in three ways—with commas, with dashes, or with parentheses. Let’s look at example sentences that essentially mean the same thing:

The best pet in the world, a dog, will always be known as “man’s best friend.”

The best pet in the world—a dog—will always be known as “man’s best friend.”

The best pet in the world (a dog) will always be known as “man’s best friend.”