Identify the appositive in the sentence given below:
Sham, the university topper, is also a talented pianist.
a) the university topper
b) talented pianist
c) sham
d) topper

Hint: An appositive is a word or phrase that is in apposition. For example- ٠ Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer' is an example of apposition.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we have to find out the appositive. Apposition is a grammatical relation between a word and a noun phrase that follows.

Let us thus analyze the options given to us in this question:
Option (a.), 'the university topper', refers to a noun phrase that follows another noun, which is ‘Sham’.
Therefore, option (a.) is correct as an appositive is a noun or a noun phrase that follows another.

Option (b.), ‘talented pianist', refers to a noun phrase that is not following any noun phrase or noun.
Therefore, option (b.) is incorrect as we need an appositive which is a noun or a noun phrase that follows another.

Option (c.), ‘sham', refers to a noun that is not following any noun or noun phrase, instead, it is being followed by one.
Therefore, option (c.) is incorrect as we need an appositive which is a noun or a noun phrase that follows another.

Option (d.), ‘topper', refers to a standalone noun that is a part of the noun phrase ‘the university topper’.
Therefore, option (d.) is incorrect as we need an appositive which is a noun or a noun phrase that follows another.

Note: In this question, it will be helpful for students to know that an appositive is usually preceded by a hyphen or a comma, and sometimes, it follows the first noun and is given within brackets.
For example- Mukesh, the artist, likes to sing as well.