result at the beginning of a sentence. Comma: You can't not bet. How to highlight introductory words

(about introductory words, phrases and sentences)

(continuation)

E. Gekkina, S. Belokurova, S. Drugoveyko-Dolzhanskaya

INTRODUCTORY OR SEPARATE?

As could be seen more than once, our Author in his work and in evaluating the work of other people, he pays the most serious attention to introductory constructions. This could not but push him to observe the isolated members of the sentence and their economically expressive possibilities. At the same time, it turned out that some phrases can play the role of both separate members of the sentence and introductory constructions. The principled and responsible position of our Author in determining the syntactic status of such expressions helped to establish, in particular, the following.

Least . The combination, at least in most cases, is adverbial and is used in the meaning of ‘the least’: At least I'll wash the dishes; He made at least a dozen mistakes. However, the location of the combination at the beginning of the utterance, as a rule, indicates a break in its syntactic links with the members of the sentence and a transition to the category of introductory words expressing an emotional assessment of the message as a whole: At a minimum, this approach involves monitoring the validity of the adoption of almost all management decisions.. Of course, there are also examples in which the combination is at least used as a separate member of the sentence; compare: To do this, you need at least an understanding of politics.(here the task of turnover is to indicate that the mentioned skill is a certain minimum (compared to something else). It is easy in this case to expand the isolation into an independent sentence like “ And this is the minimum in such-and-such activity.»).

Consequently . The combination as a consequence in the sentence can be a separate turnover, that is, a construction in which an additional message is transmitted in relation to the main message. This message is usually explanatory; compare: Deforestation leads to a reduction in the habitat of wild animals and, as a result, to a decrease in their number.(an additional message is this: the decline in the number of animals is a consequence of the reduction in their habitat). This combination can be introductory if, with its help, the author reports what he considers to be a consequence, the result of previous activities, of any process. The line between isolation and introductory construction lies between “is” and “I think”. Maybe these semantic subtleties are not always distinguishable, but the punctuation result is always obvious - commas (sometimes dashes), highlighting as a consequence. This combination can also be used with the meaning of identification, identity, and then you do not need to put commas; compare: This method appeared as a result of repeated attempts to use various techniques..

If possible. The combination, if possible, may indicate the admissibility, feasibility of something (for example, any action or sign) or conditions favorable for something. In this case, it is used as an ordinary secondary member of the sentence, closely related in meaning to other words of the sentence and not requiring commas. For example: I'll do it as late as possible, They've been as short and concise as possible, He intends to continue his studies as much as possible. The same combination can become a separate member of the sentence if the author intends to highlight, emphasize the indicated factors or circumstances; compare: I will do it later if possible.. At the same time, in a simple sentence, not one, but two messages are combined, as a result, in terms of meaning, it can be compared with a complex sentence of the type: I will do it later and will if possible. Separate members, as you know, are separated by punctuation marks from other words of the sentence. Behind the combination, if possible, one can also see a message-appeal to the interlocutor “if it is not difficult for you / you to do this” (such an appeal, however, can be addressed to yourself). This is the meaning of the introductory construction, which is also separated by punctuation marks from other words of the sentence. Wed: Please close the windows and check, if possible, if electrical appliances are turned off..

Preeminently. From a grammatical point of view par excellence is a combination of a preposition and a noun. Often used as a circumstance characterizing an action, state, situation, objects, persons; For example: His father's library consisted chiefly of French classics; The wide popularity of N-va is connected mainly with his belonging to the economic and political elite; Here, we will mainly focus on the painting of the early twentieth century.. This combination can be used as part of a separate turnover, which has a clarifying character: This school focuses on foreign languages, par excellence Romance and Germanic; More plants need to be planted to absorb atmospheric pollution, mainly carbon dioxide. It also occurs in the role of an uncommon isolated member of the proposal; compare: The beginning of the community is par excellence, the beginning of the Slavic tribe ....

We have analyzed the most common grammatical errors. However, attention was paid not to all levels of linguistics. In this article, we will focus on the errors associated with the use of punctuation marks.

When a comma is needed

Remember - we use it to separate and highlight words in sentences.

Before the second and following homogeneous members of the sentence, when listing

Often on sites there are errors in listing the characteristics of goods or services. For example:

But in the offer “We will replace the faucet and connect the shower room” The comma is not needed because the conjunction "And" used once.

As a rule, cumbersome sentences with homogeneous members and errors in them can be easily avoided. To do this, use bulleted lists:

Just use them wisely.

To separate parts of a sentence

Almost every sentence can be divided into parts. You can understand whether a comma is needed by asking a question.

Before us is the introduction of a key query, beloved by copywriters."Where to buy…". If you decide to use this cliche, then do not make mistakes in it. This little sentence is missing a comma before the word"Where". It consists of the main"ask a question") and subordinate ( where to buy a coat) parts connected by union"Where". We check: “Ask what question? Where to buy a coat»means a comma is needed.

To separate the subordinate part from the main one, you need to put a comma and in the following examples (you can put questions to the subordinate parts “think about what?”, “what is clear?”):

On both sides of the introductory words ("understand", "hope", "maybe", "good", etc.)

However, if "Hope" was part of the predicate, a comma would be superfluous. For example: “The client ordered a site audit and hopes to get out of the filter”. "hopes to get out"- a compound predicate and a comma between its parts is not needed.

Composite introductory structures "as a rule", "primarily", "as a consequence" and others are also separated from both sides by punctuation marks (usually commas).

Note: Generally agree these constructions can be removed from the text, in our opinion, its meaning from this, fortunately , will not change - very often introductory words only complicate and overload sentences, and they can be abandoned.

In participial and adverbial phrases

Participle turns:

The adverbial turnover denotes an additional action, answering the question "doing what?":

That's right: "So, when making a choice, treat the purchase reverently."

In this example, a comma is missing at the beginning of the adverbial phrase, before the word "based on". The team not only distributes responsibilities, but is also based on specialized training - this is an additional action, so a comma is necessary.

Participial turns:

Need a comma before the word "provided"(put the question: What services? - Provided by the company).

Need a comma at the end of the turnover, before the word "done" (What clothes? - Presented in the online store).

You need commas on both sides of the participial phrase "made in Russia"(What are the carpets? - Made in Russia).

Between parts of the compound union "both ... and ..."

Many authors of articles on websites use this construction to enter a key query into the text. "cheap" And "Expensive". However, the use of the union in this case is inappropriate - it would be more productive, for example, to make a transfer indicating specific prices.

Note: Often in the texts on the sites the construction "like...and so..." superfluous, and it can be "painlessly" removed or replaced with a list:

When a comma is not needed

Between subject and predicate

Lovers can buy - what is there to share?

Before the constructions "etc.", "etc.", "etc."

Between subordinate clauses, if they belong to the same main clause and are connected by the union "and"

Dash or hyphen?

These punctuation marks are often confused despite the clear difference in meaning.

A dash is placed:

Between subject and predicate

For example: "The purpose of the audit is to identify optimization errors". In this offer "target"- subject, and "revealing"- predicate. In other words, the dash replaces the omitted (but implied) word "is".

Watch for the correct use of one or another sign. The most common mistakes in using a hyphen (instead of a dash) are just between the subject and the predicate:

In the descriptions on the site, a hyphen instead of a dash is rather a technical error, which is easy to fix. Just check what is written, because careful attention to the content is an indicator of care for the visitors of your site.

Between homogeneous members and a generalizing word

The texts on the websites of many online stores have errors in the descriptions of services, features and characteristics of goods.

Right:

“In the content, in the distribution of target queries, in the usability of the site - optimization is needed everywhere.”

To highlight isolated members of a sentence

For example: "He fulfilled his task - to overcome the obstacle."

The hyphen is placed:

Between parts of compound words

For example: "anchor list", "online store", "online consultant", "donor page".

In indefinite noun pronouns

For example: "someone", "something", "something", "someone", "something".

Between adverbs that make up one whole

For example: “a long time ago”, “willy-nilly”, “white-white”.

Dot

This punctuation marks the end of the story. The dot is also obligatory in abbreviations (“other”, “etc”, “because”).

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In Russian, you can find words and phrases that are never separated by commas in a sentence. In some cases, commas are placed, but only under certain conditions. Let's figure out when punctuation marks are not needed.

Never separated by commas

In selling or informational texts, there are expressions that make you want to put a comma. These constructions are often confused with introductory words and mistakenly use punctuation marks.

Remember these words - "provocateurs" and never separate with commas:

Similarly, literally, solely, as a result, as a result, in connection with this, precisely, exclusively, as if, moreover, ultimately, for the most part, extremely, without fail, especially, definitely, by decision, by decision, approximately, only, nevertheless, that is, as if and etc.

A sentence may begin with a union consisting of several words. Commas are not used in such constructions.

For example, since…; before as…; after…; in order to…; if… and etc.

Set expressions are not separated by commas in writing, which are mistaken for homogeneous terms. These are phraseological turns, consisting of two words with opposite meanings and connected by unions AND or NI.

For example: both, and in both, neither here nor there.

No comma before AS in set expressions with a comparison value: the disease vanished as if by hand; everything is like a selection; sounds like music have at one's fingertips; clear as day and etc.

separated/not separated by commas under certain conditions

In the texts, constructions are doubtful, which in one case can be separated by commas from the rest of the words in the sentence, and in the other case not separated.

Introductory words and sentence members similar to them

The following technique will help to distinguish the introductory word from the homonymous member of the sentence: try to remove the doubtful word from the sentence. If this word cannot be excluded, the meaning of the sentence is lost, then commas are not needed. This is a member of the proposal.

For example: The workshop can be reorganized(It will not be possible to remove the word "maybe", the sentence will fall apart).

When a word is excluded from a sentence without difficulty, and the meaning of the statement does not suffer, then it is necessary to put punctuation marks: The workshop may have already been reorganized.“Perhaps” is an introductory word with the meaning of uncertainty.

Should be remembered that in sales texts, introductory words are stop words. Therefore, it is more correct to abandon such structures.

Let's look at a few more examples of the use of words that are often found on the Internet, which may or may not be separated by commas.

However

If the word “however” is at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence and is easily replaced by the union BUT, then this word is not an introductory one, therefore it is not separated from both sides by commas.

For example: However (= BUT) you should not immediately refuse the bonus card. Here "however" is a conjunction that connects sentences in the text.

Working as a copywriter is difficult, but (=BUT) interesting. In this sentence, "however" connects homogeneous terms.

In other cases, "however" is an introductory word and is separated by commas.

Really

The word "really" is not separated by commas if it takes a position in the middle or at the end of a sentence: You will be really pleased with a wide choice of goods in our shop.

If “really” is at the beginning of a sentence and expresses confidence, then this word is emphasized: Indeed, the work of a copywriter is interesting.

Finally

When the word "finally" in a sentence has the meaning "as a result" and is easily replaced by a synonym for "in the end", then commas are not put: You discussed the possible risks and finally came to an agreement.

If the word “finally” indicates the order of thoughts (in the meaning of “and more”), then commas are required. For example: In the summer you can go to the Crimea, to Karelia and, finally (=and more), relax in Altai. In this case, “finally” is the introductory word.

Use the rules of punctuation to correctly punctuate.

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Copywriter-philologist, teacher of the Russian language with great experience

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If the introductory word can be omitted or rearranged to another place in the sentence without violating its structure (usually this happens with the unions “and” and “but”), then the union is not included in the introductory construction - a comma need.

For example: "Firstly, it became dark, and, secondly, everyone was tired."

If the introductory word cannot be removed or rearranged, then the comma after the union (usually with the union "a") not put.

For example: “She just forgot about this fact, or maybe she never remembered it”, “..., and therefore ...”, “..., and maybe ...”, “..., which means ...”.

If the introductory word can be removed or rearranged, then the comma need after the union "a", since it is not associated with the introductory word.

For example: “She didn’t just not love him, but maybe even despised him.”

If at the beginning of the sentence there is a coordinating union (in an attached meaning) (“and”, “yes” in the meaning of “and”, “too”, “also”, “and then”, “otherwise”, “yes and”, “ and also ", etc.), and then the introductory word, then a comma before it need not.

For example: “And really, you shouldn’t have done this”; “And perhaps it was necessary to do something differently”; “Finally, the action of the play is ordered and divided into acts”; “Besides, other circumstances came to light”; “But of course, everything ended well.”

It happens rarely: if at the beginning of a sentence worth joining union, A the introductory construction is emphasized intonation, then commas are NEEDED.

For example: "But, to my great annoyance, Shvabrin decisively announced ..."; "And, as usual, they remembered only one good thing."

Always WITHOUT commas are written:

Firstly

at first sight

for sure

likewise

More or less

literally

in addition

in the (final) end

in the end

last resort

best case scenario

Anyway

at the same time

overall

mostly

especially

in some cases

through thick and thin

subsequently

otherwise

as a result

due to this

in this case

in the same time

in this regard

mainly

often

exclusively

as a maximum

meanwhile

just in case

in case of emergency

if possible

as far as possible

still

practically

approximately

with all (with) that

with (all) desire

on occasion

likewise

the biggest

at least

actually

in addition

to top it off

by the proposal

by decree

by decision

traditionally

A comma is NOT placed at the beginning of a sentence:

“Before… I was…”

"Since…"

"Before as…"

"Although…"

"As…"

"In order to…"

"Instead of…"

“Actually…”

"While…"

"Besides..."

"Nevertheless…"

“Despite the fact that ...” (at the same time - separately); DO NOT put a comma before "what".

"If…"

"After…"

“And…”

« Finally" in the meaning of "finally" - does not stand out with commas.

« And this despite the fact that…"- in the middle of a sentence, a comma is always placed!

« Based on this, …"- a comma is placed at the beginning of the sentence.

BUT: “He did so on the basis of ...” - the comma is not put.

« After all, if...then..."- a comma before "if" is not put, since the second part of the double union - "then" goes on. If there is no “then”, then a comma before “if” is put!

« Less than two years..."- a comma before "what" is not put, because this is not a comparison.

comma before "How" put only in case of comparison.

« Policies such as Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov ... ”- a comma is placed, because is the noun "politics".

BUT: "… politicians such as Ivanov, Petrov, Sidorov ... ”- no comma is placed before“ how ”.

No commas are placed:

"God forbid", "God forbid", "for God's sake"- no commas stand out, + the word "god" is written with a small letter.

BUT: commas are placed in two directions:

"God bless" in the middle of the sentence it is separated by commas on both sides (the word "God" in this case is capitalized) + at the beginning of the sentence - it is distinguished by a comma (on the right side).

"God"- in these cases, commas are placed on both sides (the word "god" in this case is written with a small letter).

"My God"- separated by commas on both sides; in the middle of the sentence "God" - with a small letter.

Introductory words, combinations and constructions are widely used in Russian. These elements are characteristic not only of written, but also of colloquial speech. They serve to clarify the meaning of what was said, to express the attitude of the speaker to what he is saying. In a letter, usually all introductory constructions are separated by commas.

The rules governing the placement of punctuation marks for introductory words and phrases are as follows.

1. Introductory words and constructions are separated by commas, regardless of their position within the sentence. For example:

Apparently, this time I was wrong.
I looked into his honest, open face and, of course, smiled.
Arkady, it seems to me, is in all respects like a piece of very pure and very soft wax (Pisarev).
It was a clean, calm work, and, as our people used to say, arguing (Chekhov).
The Cossacks, it was heard, made an excellent attack (L. Tolstoy).
You, they say, sing a great master (Krylov).
He, I confess, then embarrassed me (Pushkin).
With his eyes, it seems he would like to eat everyone (Krylov). This, according to Arkady Pavlovich, was a statesman of small stature (Turgenev).

Note. Introductory words and constructions, despite their similarity with sentence members and even predicative parts, in fact, are not such and do not participate in the formation of a sentence. They can be easily dropped. They serve only to express the attitude of the speaker to his words and to add new shades of subjective character.

2. As introductory words and constructions, traditionally in the Russian language are used:

no doubt, probably, maybe, of course, hardly, I don’t think, I’m sure, I think, probably, for sure, etc. (introduce a shade of confidence or uncertainty of the author in their words)
firstly, secondly, in total, therefore, as a result, therefore, however, so, etc. (introduce consistency and logic into reasoning);
fortunately, unfortunately, to chagrin, to joy, etc. (they bring a shade of the author's emotional attitude to what he says), and other groups.

Note 1. Introductory words should be distinguished from circumstantial, which answer the questions where? When? How? how? (and other circumstantial issues). For example:

He took an umbrella with him very opportunely: it started to rain (a circumstantial word, not separated by a comma), BUT: Yes, by the way, take an umbrella with you (an introductory word, separated by a comma).

Note 2. Introductory words and phrases should be distinguished from amplifying constructions synonymous with them, which are pronounced in a tone of absolute confidence and serve to confirm the meaning of what is said in the sentence. For example:

Well, you understand that, don't you? (introductory word, separated by a comma when writing) BUT: of course, you will arrive before everyone else (amplifying word, emphasizes the author’s confidence in his words, is pronounced in a tone of absolute conviction and is not separated by commas);
Well, what are you, in fact, invented something! (introductory construction, highlighted on both sides with commas) BUT: But he really is not to blame! (reinforcing structure, not separated by commas).

Note 3. If the introductory words “for example”, “say”, “put”, “let's say”, etc., are in front of words that clarify the meaning of what was said before them, then no signs need to be put after these words.

Note 4. The unions “a”, “but”, “and”, if they form a single construction with the introductory word, are not separated by commas in the letter. For example:

She began to eat, which means that the crisis is over.
The most common constructions are: which means, and therefore, but therefore, but of course, but by the way, etc.