In the sentence 'David, the head boy of the school, has been absent for the last three days', which punctuation correctly sets off the appositive?

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

Answer: (A)

Punctuating a nonessential appositive. The phrase "the head boy of the school" adds extra information about David, but the sentence would still be clear if you remove it: David has been absent for the last three days. Because that appositive is nonessential to identify who David is, it should be set off by commas on both sides.

A semicolon would link two independent clauses, which isn’t the function here. A colon would introduce explanation or a list after the preceding clause, not the inserted name. A dash can sometimes set off extra information, but the standard, neutral choice for a nonessential appositive is the comma.