His mother __ a disciplinarian __ didn't allow him to attend the party. Which punctuation should separate the noun from the appositive after the word 'mother'?

• A. Colon
• B. Dash
• C. Comma
• D. Semicolon

Answer: (C)

Punctuating an appositive that adds extra information about a noun requires commas when the information is nonessential to identifying or specifying the noun. Here, “a disciplinarian” renames or describes “mother” but isn’t needed to know which mother is being talked about. So it should be set off by commas on both sides to mark it as an added detail.

The sentence should read: His mother, a disciplinarian, didn't allow him to attend the party.

Using commas correctly signals that the appositive is nonrestrictive. A colon would not fit here, since it would introduce explanation or a list rather than separate an appositive. A semicolon links two independent clauses, which isn’t the function needed here. A dash could be used for emphasis in some styles, but commas are the standard, formal choice for this purpose.