According to the comma. Separation of introductory words. Commas are NOT separated

Today, as part of our fresh rubric “Literacy Minute”, I propose to discuss the issue isolation of introductory words in a sentence. I think I won’t be much mistaken in saying that every author uses introductory words in his written speech - to a greater or lesser extent. However, novice authors often have difficulties with the placement of commas, not everyone knows in which cases the introductory words require separation, and in which they do not. It is with this question that we will deal with today.

Introductory words.

Usually, adverbs, verbs and other parts of speech act as introductory words, the main purpose of which is to express the speaker's attitude to what he reports. In sentences, introductory words are separated by commas. The simplest and most common way to determine whether a word is introductory is to deliberately omit it in a sentence. If after the omission the meaning of the statement does not change, then the word is introductory, but if the sentence has no meaning without it, then no. Let's look at the following examples:

Her words seemed to silence everyone.

Her face looked marbled.

Word it seemed, which appears in both examples, in the first case it is introductory, but in the second it is an integral part compound predicate. In the first sentence, it just expresses the author's uncertainty, some kind of implicit connection between the two events. And, of course, this word can be easily omitted without losing the meaning of the statement ( Her phrase silenced everyone).

A large group of different words can be used as introductory words. But there are words that at first glance seem to be introductory, but they never are. Consider an example:

This year will obviously be a rainy summer.

This year is bound to be rainy.

In terms of meaning, these two sentences are very close, but only the word obviously is introductory. It is also separated by commas.

The following is a list of words to memorize. These words are very similar to introductory words, but they are not, and there is no need to separate them with commas: perhaps, as if, all of a sudden, after all, here, hardly, after all, even, precisely, as if, just, certainly, necessarily, almost, only, supposedly. It is not difficult to remember them, especially since we usually write them without isolation anyway.

Types of introductory words.

All introductory words can conditionally be divided into several types, depending on what meaning they convey in the sentence.

1 . Most often, introductory words are used to indicate the speaker's varying degree of confidence in what he is reporting. For example:

It was definitely worth it to come in the morning.

It doesn't seem worth turning off the road.

This group includes the words: undoubtedly, undoubtedly, certainly, without a doubt, of course, certainly, indeed, it seems, probably, perhaps, perhaps.

2 . The second most common reason for using introductory words is to express the feelings and attitudes of the speaker to what he is reporting. In particular:

Unfortunately, I failed this responsible task.

The following words belong to this type: unfortunately, fortunately, unfortunately, unfortunately.

3 . It happens that introductory words serve to indicate the source of information that the speaker reports. In this case, the introductory phrase often begins with the words according to, according to, according to. For example:

In the opinion of the professor, the proof given was incomplete.

The source of the message can often be the speaker himself: in my opinion, in my opinion. Or the source can be undefined at all: they say, hear. For example:

They are said not to win.

The following words belong to this type: in my opinion, in my opinion, in your opinion, according to, according to the message, according to rumors, they say, hear.

4 . The next direction in the use of introductory words is to use them to streamline thoughts, as well as indicate their connection with each other. For example:

Firstly, this approach is extremely energy-consuming, and secondly, it is not feasible at all.

The option you proposed, on the contrary, suits both conflicting parties.

These include the following introductory words: finally, so, therefore, means, on the contrary, for example, on the contrary, firstly, secondly, thirdly.

5 . There are also sentences in which the introductory words indicate directly the way thoughts are formed. For example:

He blundered, to put it mildly.

The fifth type includes the following words: to put it mildly, it is better to say, in a word, in other words.

6 . Among the introductory words, there are those that are designed to attract the attention of the interlocutor. For example:

You see, this is not his last offense!

Here is a sample list of them: see (see), know (know), understand (understand), listen (listen). If desired, the name of the person whose attention you want to attract can be added to them.

It is worth noting that all of these meanings listed above can be expressed not only by introductory words, but also by similar predicative constructions (i.e., introductory sentences). For example:

The rain seems to be over soon.

The rain, I think, will end soon.

In addition to commas, for highlighting introductory proposals dashes or brackets may well be used. Usually this is done in cases where the introductory construction is very common, contains additional comments and explanations, or for no reason at all. For example:

Alexei (the reader has already recognized him) was meanwhile gazing intently at the young peasant woman.

Here we are passing through our village once, years ago - how would you say, not to lie - about fifteen years.

Important notes.

The rule of isolation of introductory words and sentences has several very important notes.

1 . If the introductory word is preceded by a union a or but, then a comma between the introductory word and the union is not always put. Let's compare two examples:

The doctor has already finished the appointment, but, of course, he will look at a serious patient.

He gave his word, and therefore must keep it.

To determine the moment of setting a comma in these cases, you need to try to omit the introductory word. So the introductory word can be removed without a union only in the first example, so a comma is needed between it and the union. In the second sentence, this cannot be done, which means that the comma is not put.

2 . Very often, novice authors have difficulty in sentences with words but and finally. Remember that the word but is isolated only when cannot be replaced by union. Examples:

However, I knew that my results were still not high enough.

So far, however, the team does not have a clear picture of what is happening.

In the first case but easily replaced by union but, in the second, it is no longer possible to carry out such a replacement, which means that it is required to separate the introductory word with commas.

Word finally will be introductory in a sentence only when it has no spatial or temporal meaning, but indicates only the order of thoughts. Examples:

We all hope that this project will finally be implemented in the near future.

And finally, the main thing to pay attention to.

3 . In the case when the introductory word begins a separate construction (for example, a clarifying phrase), a comma is not placed after the introductory word. In other words, the comma, which was supposed to “close” the introductory word, is transferred to the end of a separate turnover.

I saw, or rather felt, that she was not indifferent to me.

(It's funny, but in this example the vaunted MS Word unambiguously hints to me that after the word more precisely a comma is needed. Well, this is just in time for the question that electronic literacy testing can not always be trusted).

4 . Among other things, a comma is not placed before the introductory word located at the end of a separate turnover. Example:

This weekend we decided to get out somewhere, out of town for example.

But in the case when the introductory word is in the middle detached structure, then it is separated by commas on a common basis.

Peter decided to declare his love, feeling, it seems, with his heart that she was not indifferent to him.

5 . If the introductory words are located before the turnover, beginning with the words how or to, then they are separated by commas. For example:

The day he lived seemed useless to him, in fact, like all life.

He thought for a moment, probably to find the right answer.

That's all for today. I hope you figured out the intricacies of separating introductory words. From myself I can say that this is only at first glance a complex and confusing question, but with practice, a sense of the language and the correct setting of commas will come. Subscribe to blog updates to keep abreast of all the latest articles. See you soon!

According to the definition, the introductory words are not members of the sentence (they cannot be asked questions from the members of the sentence, and they can also be removed from the sentence without violating its structure) and express the speaker's attitude to what was said, that is, they introduce a subjective dimension. Yes, proposal The weather will be fine tomorrow describes the fact of objective reality. BUT Probably good weather tomorrow or Luckily the weather will be fine tomorrow express a subjective attitude to this reality.

Difficulty 1. Lack of strict introductory criteria

The first difficulty in learning introductory words is that they just need to be memorized. The criteria for distinguishing such words are not universal and are not always applicable. So, we say that it is impossible to ask a question from the members of the sentence to the introductory words. But it cannot be assigned to the official parts of speech - unions, particles. We say that introductory words can be removed from a sentence without violating its structure. But a lot of superfluous words can be removed from the sentence, which practical style tells about.

In addition, sometimes, contrary to the definition, introductory words become a structural element of a sentence: He will come and maybe, and no. (Compare: He will come, but not.) And in some cases they even play the role of a significant element of the sentence, which is not separated by commas: If a according to the manufacturer the car must go through heavy off-road, then in practice it hardly drives onto the sidewalk.

Difficulty 2. Indistinguishability of introductory sentences

Some proofreaders are not aware of the existence of introductory sentences. They may be one-piece Buran , it seemed , still raging) two-part ( I think , She will love this gift and common ( These dogs , if I am not mistaken, come from mongrels).

Especially many errors are associated with introductory sentences indicating the source of the message: (how) noticed, said, added, promised someone. The budget, the minister said, will be adopted on time. Sentences of this type do not require quotation marks and dashes as in direct speech.

Especially a lot of such structures in news materials. And news editors have trouble with punctuation. Intuitively, they understand that if they issue such sentences as direct speech, then a small news item will be full of quotation marks, and this is ugly. Therefore, they choose a strange hybrid option: they do not put quotation marks, but leave commas and dashes from direct speech. And this is a clear mistake. Can't write The budget, the minister said, will be adopted on time.

Difficulty 3. Indistinguishability between introductory sentences and plug-in structures

Introductory sentences are often confused with plug-in constructions. Common introductory sentences (especially interrogative and exclamatory ones), as well as plug-in constructions, can be distinguished on both sides by dashes or brackets. But unlike introductory constructions, plug-in constructions do not express a relationship to what has been said, but provide additional information. Compare: He – can you imagine? - has been starring in an action movie for a week now(introductory sentence) and We were well fed, but the water –not drinking, but for washing– there were few(plug-in design) .

Difficulty 4. Pseudo-introductory words

Some words are never introductory, but they are often confused with introductory words and are separated by commas. These words also need to be remembered. Their list is in textbooks.

Remember pseudo-introductory words: perhaps, as if, as if, literally, in addition, to top it all off, suddenly, after all, in the end, here, hardly, nevertheless, nevertheless, nevertheless, even, hardly, exactly, as if, as would, after all, just, moreover, meanwhile, I suppose, by design, truly, at the same time, by experience, by decree, by proposal, by order, by decision, by tradition, positively, almost, approximately, moreover, decisively, as if, nevertheless, supposedly etc.

Difficulty 5. Chameleon words

Some words, depending on the context, are either introductory or non-introductory: unions, particles, sentence members (usually predicates or circumstances) or interjections. There are very few words that are used only as introductory and are always isolated ( for example, first, in my opinion and some others). Introductory in itself is just a function that all parts of speech can perform. Introductory words are related to parts of speech in the same way that the predicate is related to the verb. Compare: Director , may be, in my office(introductory sentence) and The director can be in his office(predicate).

Below are words with similar meanings. They all seem to indicate the source of the message, but some are introductory and others are not. This once again proves that introductory words need to be checked in dictionaries and reference books - it is difficult to find logic in this matter. So, examples of introductory and non-introductory words that can be confused.

ACCORDING TO

introductory,if it refers to a person or organization.

According to your version you arrived in the morning.

Not introductory, if: does not indicate a person or organization; comes after the word being defined.

According to the most common version this is an old Russian word.

Most Powerful Women according to Forbes .

FROM MEMORY

introductory

According to Panova, the old guide to Moscow helped her a lot.

ACCORDING TO

introductory

According to our data, the event will not take place.

ACCORDING TO THE DOCUMENTS

Not introductory

According to the documents she was from Omsk.

ON CONCLUSION

introductory

According to the commission, the quality meets the standards.

IN LAW

Not introductory

In law spouses have equal rights.

BY REMARK

introductory

According to the leader, job well done.

BY DESIGN

Not introductory

As intended by the writer this story was supposed to open the cycle.

ON APPLICATION

introductory

According to the editor, The magazine will be published monthly.

Not introductoryifmeans in accordance with.

Contract terminated upon application one of the parties.

IN THEORY

introductory,if means seems.

Not introductoryifmeans by design.

According to her idea decided to have a ball.

ACCORDING TO INFORMATION

introductory

According to my information it is one of the most popular sites.

ACCORDING TO THE LEGEND

introductory

IN OPINION

introductory

According to doctors, pouring is good for health.

BY USUAL

Not introductory

By custom All members of the family came to the wedding.

BY RULE

Not introductory

By rule introductory words are separated by commas.

ACCORDING TO LEGEND

introductory

According to legend, Jesus lived to be 33 years old.

BY THE PROPOSAL

Not introductory

Elijah's suggestion everyone went to the forest.

BY SUPPLY

introductory

According to his assumption, there must be a river behind the forest .

BY PREDICTION

introductory

According to a fortune teller, he had to leave immediately.

ON SUBMISSION

introductory

Not like this , according to them, must be a classic.

BY ORDER

Not introductory

By order of the commander the soldiers lined up.

FORECASTS

introductory,if indicates the source of the message.

According to weather forecasts, the winter will be cold.

Not introductoryin the absence of dependent words.

According to forecasts the winter will be cold.

BY DECISION

Not introductory

By the tribunal's decision the accused was acquitted.

RUMORED

introductory

According to rumors petrol will rise in price.

BY ADVICE

Not introductory

On Mom's Advice she took warm clothes with her.

BY STATISTICS

introductory

Statistically, women buy more shoes than men.

ACCORDING TO THE SCENARIO

Not introductory

According to the script snow must be removed.

TRADITIONALLY

Not introductory

On the walls of Liubov's office traditionally Moscow celebrities signed.

BY BELIEF

introductory

According to him, a man should earn more.

Difficulty 6. Inability to use directories

In difficult cases, we turn to the "Dictionary of Introductory Words" and the "Punctuation Guide" on Gramota. en .However, some proofreaders do not know how to read them. For example, in the reference book it is written that the introductory word but has the meaning of particle or conjunction Nonetheless and particles yet. But that doesn't mean that Nonetheless and yet must be separated by commas. Do not confuse the meaning of the introductory word and the introductory word itself. Their writing is subject to different rules.

Difficulty 7. Words with special punctuation

There are introductory and non-introductory words with special punctuation that create the greatest difficulties for the writer: on the one hand ... on the other hand, finally, in the end, in turn, from the point of view, rather, vice versa / and vice versa, of course / of course, at least, besides this / this, besides this / this and etc.

Let's take just one example. So, the combination of union and adverb and vice versa can replace a member of a sentence or a whole sentence. In the first case, it is not separated by commas ( Ranevskaya goes from tears to laughter and vice versa. That is from laughter to tears), and in the second one stands out ( The closer the light source, the brighter the light emitted by it, and vice versa. Compound sentence replaced The farther away the light source, the dimmer the light it emits.).

But at the end of the subordinate clause and vice versa the comma is not separated, even if it replaces the subordinate clause: This explains why what was considered criminal in ancient world considered legal in the new and vice versa(substitute clause Why what was considered legal in the new world was considered criminal in the ancient).

At the same time, it is also necessary to distinguish between the combination of union and adverb and vice versa from a combination of union and and introductory word vice versa, separated by commas general rule:He discarded unnecessary details and, conversely, focused on useful details.

Reference books often give conflicting recommendations about such words. What to do? Search for a happy medium by analyzing rules and examples from Difficult Cases of Punctuation and D. E. Rosenthal's Spelling and Literary Editing Guide, Dictionary of Introductory Words and Punctuation Guide on Gramota. en . In this case, you need to focus on general trends, and not on the author's punctuation. And ignore the marks “rarely introductory”, “sometimes introductory”, “introductory if the author wants to emphasize something there” and the like, otherwise you will have a mess of conflicting examples in your head.

Difficulty 8. Complicated rules punctuation

It is difficult for practitioners to understand some punctuation rules. Here is a simple at first glance rule that almost no one observes, even proofreaders with experience: at the beginning and at the end of a separate turnover, the introductory word is not separated from it by commas. Animals , for example Cats can see well in the dark. Cats see well in the dark in truth surpassing their masters in this.

Apparently, it is difficult for people to understand what a separate turnover is. Let's explain in a nutshell. In common speech, all isolated turns are called clarification, meaning the part of the sentence that is pronounced with a special intonation. But such an approximate representation is not enough to punctuate correctly.

First of all, you need to remember that participial and participle turnovers are isolated. Further, it should be taken into account that isolated turns are divided into clarifying, explanatory and connecting. (We will not describe here other cases of isolation of sentence members - this is a whole section of the textbook that you can read on your own.)

How is clarification different from explanation? Clarification is a narrowing of the scope of a concept, and an explanation is one and the same in other words. Pink, colors of dawn, clouds - explanation (Pink - what are they? Colors of the dawn. Colors of the dawn - what are they? Pink) . I'll come in the evening, at seven o'clock- clarification (Seven is one of the hours of the evening. But I'll be there tomorrow at seven o'clock- not a clarification. The concepts of tomorrow and evening are not connected).

Most connecting structures can be identified by the unions that introduce them. For example, if you see union yes and, in 90% of cases we are talking about the connecting structure, which is separated by a comma. In 10% of cases yes and synonymous with union and.

Do not confuse a separate turnover with a subordinate clause. In the subordinate clause - at least at the beginning, at least at the end - the introductory word is separated by commas on both sides: It was heard, for example, how the gate creaks.

Particular difficulties are caused by cases of intonational isolation that is not supported by a structural argument. Compare: (1) Dried leaves and flowers are used for aromatization. , for example bergamot, jasmine, mint.(2)For flavoring, dried leaves and flowers are used, for example, bergamot, jasmine, mint.(3)For flavoring use dried leaves and flowers, such as bergamot, jasmine, mint. In the first case, we are dealing with an explicit clarifying phrase. In the second sentence, it is not (if you remove the introductory word, there will be no commas). And the third sentence raises questions. From the point of view of the structure, there is no clarifying phrase here, but the introductory word itself can create it. Compare: The cat meowed must be from hunger. The cat meowed , should be from hunger. The same picture can be observed in the case heterogeneous definitions: It was gray , seems, domestic cat. It was gray , seems domestic, cat(here the introductory word itself creates a separate turnover).

It should also be noted that the rule on not separating the introductory word from a separate turnover is valid only when the turnover itself is separated by commas, and not by dashes or brackets. Compare: Animals , for example Cats can see well in the dark. Animals - for example, Cats can see well in the dark. Animals (for example, cats) see well in the dark.

This rule does not apply to comparative turnovers with union how (cats , however, like other animals, they see well in the dark) and target turnovers to (Cats need good eyesight , probably, to hunt in the dark).

Difficulty 9. The conflict of old and new norms

The difficulty is that the essence of this conflict is not formulated in textbooks and reference books. The special editions simply contradict each other, and it is up to the proofreaders to figure out the nature of the differences themselves. Contradictions are observed between lifetime (until 1994) and posthumous editions of D. E. Rosenthal, supplemented by some modern standards, as well as between the classic works of the master and fresh academic reference books. Although there are not so many differences. Let's focus on those that relate to introductory words.

BUT.According to Rosenthal, if the introductory word is between homogeneous definitions, predicates or complex sentences, ambiguity arises, since it is not clear which part of the sentence (right or left) it refers to. Ambiguity can be eliminated with punctuation.

The cat broke the vase , - must be chasing a mouse (in the position "introductory word between homogeneous predicates" a dash is put as an additional sign) .

broken vase , – should be the cat chased the mouse(in the position "an introductory word between sentences in a complex" a dash is put after the comma as an additional character) .

And in accordance with the latest trend of ambiguity, which Rosenthal speaks of, no, since usually the introductory word is at the beginning, and not at the end of the structure to which it refers, therefore it is separated by commas on both sides.

The cat broke the vase must be chased the mouse.

broken vase must be

The cat broke the vase should be chased the mouse.

The vase is broken should be the cat chased the mouse.

B.According to Rosenthal,the words rather, rather, rather, having the value of introductory, are distinguished by commas on their own, without forming a clarifying phrase. In such cases, we are not talking about clarification (narrowing the scope of the concept does not occur), but about homogeneous members that name the subject differently. These words have the meaning of introductory and in combination with the union ah V. For Rosenthal means, means- introductory words that are always separated by commas (excluding cases in which means- link or verb: Live - means dream. What is it all means ? ).

If a the city is being built, means, the city lives. Calculations were made hastily , and consequently and inaccurate.

Difficulty 10. Gaps in the current rules

Not all the nuances of using introductory words are described in textbooks. For example, they do not tell us anything about cases where the introductory word is between the subject and the predicate, expressed by the infinitive. be a cat - maybe, good to see in the dark. There is no corresponding rule, but an analysis of examples in the reference literature suggests that a dash still needs to be put.

© Tatyana Machinskaya

Hello!
Tell me, please, is it necessary to put a comma after the expressions according to the version of the investigation, according to the available information?
Orthoepic.

Yes, these combinations are isolated as introductory.


	Question #252984

Is a comma needed in the sentence: "According to available information, the colleague did not receive an answer."