Placement of commas in English. Comma in English: basic principles of punctuation. Interesting proposal: how to build a replica with different types of communication

Causes a lot of problems for almost everyone. This is due to the fact that in Russian, commas must be used very often, whereas in English the situation is somewhat different. In this article I will try to analyze point by point in which cases it is still necessary to put commas and other punctuation marks, and in which cases it is not. But first, I suggest you learn how basic punctuation marks are translated into English:

dot— full stop or period

comma- comma

semicolon- semi-colon

colon— colon

dash- hyphen

question mark-question mark

Exclamation point- exclamation mark

Punctuation in English

Now let's move on to the rules of comma placement, which help us better understand the structure and meaning of a sentence.

1. Commas are used when listing words of the same type:

His favorite colors are blue, green and white.

2. A comma is placed in a number starting with a thousand:

1,000 (one thousand)
1,769
$74,050
9,000,000

3. A comma is placed before and after direct speech. In indirect speech - no.

He said, " I want to help you.»
« I want to help you"he said.
He told her that he wanted to help her.

4 . A comma must be placed before but, so, and, nor, for, or, yet. But, if both parts of the sentence are short, then you don’t have to put it.

They didn't want to go to the party, but they had to do it.
My sister wants to work as an interpreter, so she is studying English at university.
She is nice so everybody likes her.

5. Introductory sentences are separated by commas if their absence does not affect the meaning of the entire sentence.

Jensen, my sister’s husband, won’t be able to come.

6. Introductory words such as however, moreover, unfortunately, nevertheless, surprisingly etc. must be separated by commas on both sides.

Moreover, he was late for the lesson.

A comma is used when listing homogeneous objects, predicates, etc. Before and A comma may or may not be included.

Three well-known Russian poets are Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, and Vladimir Mayakovsky.

NOTE: A comma is not needed if the listed items are connected and or or.

Meat and vegetables and nut are the staples in Ronald’s diet.

Listing adjectives

A comma is used when listing equivalent adjectives that define the same noun.

Useful, imaginative, attractive advertising should be more widespread.

NOTE: A comma is not used if adjectives that are not equivalent are listed.

His life was devoted to achieving a special personal goal. The exhibition of modern Greek art will be opened next week.

Commas before conjunctions

A comma is placed before a conjunction connecting two parts of a compound sentence - but, and, or, nor, yet, so, for.

Ballerinas begin their careers out of a love for dancing, and a few keep that passion.

The house was full of junk, for the owner could not throw the old goodies away.

To check whether a comma is needed or not, put a period instead. If the sentences sound normal, then a comma is needed.

Introductory phrases

A comma is used to separate the introductory phrase and subordinate clause from the main part of the sentence.

Opening phrase

By the beginning of the next year, life in this neighborhood will change.

On the south shore of Australia, two sharks attacked swimmers.

Introductory verbal phrase

To cross the Pacific Ocean, you must have courage.

Tired and beaten up, the gang returned home. Diving into the waves, the pelican pursued its prey.

Introductory part of the proposal

Whenever heavy rains hit Vietnam, there is danger of flood.

NOTE: It is important to distinguish a verbal definition from a verbal noun. Only verbal definitions are separated by commas.

Example of a verbal definition:

Diving from a boat, Sam realized the joy of underwater hunting.

Example of a verbal noun:

Underwater hunting is Sam's favorite pastime.

NOTE: You can omit the comma if the introductory part is very short and if everything is clear in meaning.

UNCLEAR:

On each weekday morning exercise class begins at four.

On each weekday, morning exercise class begins at four. IT'S CLEAR: In business we need to know when to persevere and when to quit.

Usually a comma is not needed if the clause is placed at the end of the sentence.

His news conference offered more lies than true facts because correspondents did not dare to ask the right questions.

Explanations

A comma is used to highlight an optional explanation, without which the meaning of the sentence does not change.

Explanation optional:

Ty Williams, who studies eight hours every day, will graduate in three years.

Without explanation, it is not clear why girls should go to dance classes:

Girls who are interested in ballet should take dancing classes.

NOTE: The part of the sentence that begins with that is almost always a necessary explanation and does not need commas.

The belief that capitalists are driven only by greed is common among communists.

NOTE: Sometimes you can use dashes or parentheses to highlight optional explanations.

Mikhail Lermontov-the 19th century’s Russian poet-lived to be twenty six.

Lermontov's Hero of Our Time (equaled in drama by Pushkin’s prose) suffers from poor quality of translation.

Digressions and introductory words

A comma is used to highlight digressions and introductory words.

Commas mark digressions that interrupt the flow of a sentence.

Romance writers, some critics maintain, try to invent a new reality for their readers.

Introductory words are separated by commas:

for example
on the other hand
in fact

And adverbs:

accordingly
besides
consequently
furthermore
hence
however
indeed
instead
likewise
meanwhile
moreover
nevertheless
otherwise
therefore
thus

Driving on freeways, for example, is more dangerous than flying.

Two boys who witnessed the accident identified the driver; nevertheless, he was released from custody because of a technicality.

NOTE: Word however always separated by commas if it is a connecting adverb. But commas are not used if the word means no matter how.

Four experts gave similar testimony; however, the committee was swayed by the general manager’s dissenting view.

However the PTO votes will have no affect on the results.

A comma is used to highlight exclamations, addresses, and words yes And no.

Oh, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings!

Stop watching TV, Ben. No, I cannot be there early.

A comma is used to highlight a separate phrase

The tiger leaped at Ben’s back, teeth snapping, eyes flashing anger.

Their hands aching from the hard work, the sailors climbed into their hummocks.

A comma is used to highlight interrogative and contrastive elements.

You'll come back, right?

Peace, not war, is what we are looking for.

A comma is used to separate words from direct speech or quotation. she said, he wrote and so on.

He says, “Not collecting treasures prevents stealing.”

“I want freedom,” wrote Anna Gush. “The only person she cares,” says James Jones, “is her precious self.”

A comma is used to make numbers, addresses, geographical names and dates easier to read.

5,000,000

600, Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach, CA The reception will be held at the Ritz Carlton on September 20, 2012, in the Ball Room.

A comma is placed at the address and at the conclusion of the letter.

Dear Uncle Bob,

A comma is placed to avoid discrepancies

UNCLEAR:

On Monday morning schedules will be revised.

On Monday, morning schedules will be revised. IT'S CLEAR: On Monday morning, schedules will be revised.

A comma is used when you need to indicate a missing word.

The Americans like ball game; the Canadians, hockey.

Comma before too

If too means “also” and is preceded by the word it modifies, then a comma is needed.

I've been to Paris, too.

I mean, “I was not only in Paris, but also in other cities.

She was happy too.

The comma is not needed because the word is being modified she, but not happy.

Comma in if clauses

Typically, a comma is used if the sentence begins with if, and is not placed if if comes after the main part of the sentence.

If you perform well, you will be paid.

You will be paid if you perform well.

Comma before participial phrase

A comma is not placed before a participle phrase if it is preceded by a word that is completed by a participle. If there are other words before the participle, then a comma is needed.

His wife, Nina Kupina, was nodding her head in a little astrakhan hat, confirming what he said.

If there had been no comma, it would have turned out that the words were confirmed by the hat, and not Nina.

A rectangle of sky overhead was cross-stitched with endless washing lines and, as everywhere, pants, pants and more pants flapping in the wind.

There is no need for a comma before flapping, because this word refers to pants and comes immediately after them.

In this article we will continue to study punctuation marks in English and consider use of commas in English.

Comma in English placed after subordinate clauses that begin with the words: when, if, although, because, if the subordinate clause comes before the main one. If the subordinate clause is in second place, then a comma is not used in English:

If the weather is good in Kiev, we will go for a walk – if the weather is good in Kyiv, we will go for a walk

We will go for a walk if the weather is good in Kiev – we will go for a walk if the weather is good in Kyiv

Because there is no real communication, there are no real relationships - due to the lack of live communication there are no real relationships

There are no real relationships b ecause there is no real communication– there are no real relationships due to the lack of live communication

The same rule applies to structures: to + infinitive, -ing form:

To conclude, we could say that he has eventually started learning English at the English language courses in Kiev - in conclusion, we could say that he eventually started learning English at the English language courses in Kiev

We could say that he has eventually started learning English to conclude - in conclusion we can say that he eventually started learning English

Subordinate clause inside another clause

If a subordinate clause is inside another clause, it is separated by commas, for example:

Because, as Joe says in his article, it "s difficult to run English language courses in Kiev - because, as Joe says in his article, it is difficult to run English language courses in Kyiv

Note:

The same rule applies to the words: that is, that is to say:

We are like parallel straight lines, that is, lines that never meet - we are like parallel straight lines, that is, lines that will never meet

Comma in English with attributive clause

In English, there are three types of attributive clauses:

restrictive (clarifying the meaning of the word being defined):

People w ho don"t smoke live longer - people who don’t smoke live longer

distributive (providing additional information about the word being defined):

This is Mary, who was my groupmate at the English language courses in Kiev - this is Mary, with whom I studied in the same group at the English language courses in Kyiv

There is no clear distinction between restrictive and expansionary proposals. Often the type of sentence is determined by intonation (extensional clauses are emphasized by voice), the importance of the information in the subordinate clause (extensive clauses contain less important information), or which interpretation is more natural.

For example:

1. My sister who studies English i s going to Australia (restrictive) - my sister, who studies English, is going to Australia

2. My sister, who studies English, is going to Australia (extensive) - my sister, who studies English, is going to Australia

In this case, both sentences are correct, but they have different meanings.

In the first sentence, the speaker has several sisters, and with the help of a qualifying clause, he determines which sister is going to Australia. In the second sentence he has one sister, so the part “who studies English” can be omitted, since it is clear from the context which sister we are talking about. You can simply say:

My sister is going to Australia - my sister is going to Australia

the sentential type is often represented by the word which/that. This type of sentence is very common in formal and academic styles. It adds additional information to the main clause, but it is not necessary to understand the main meaning. The sentential attributive clause refers to the entire clause that comes before it. It is always preceded by a comma in English:

They decided against buying a house in Kiev, which was a wise decision - they refused to buy a house in Kyiv, and it was a wise decision

The world is getting smaller and smaller, which means that people have less recourse - the world is getting smaller and smaller, which means that people have fewer resources

Using commas in English with adverbs and adverbial phrases

If an adverb or adverbial phrase appears at the beginning of a sentence, it is followed by a comma in English; when used within a sentence, it is separated by commas on both sides. The following adverbs are often used at the beginning of a sentence and are always separated by commas in English:

besides – besides, in addition, moreover

similarly - in the same way, in a similar way

likewise - similarly, in the same way

in the same way - in the same way

on the contrary - on the contrary

conversely - back; back, back; vice versa

in other words - in other words

Does your back feel any better? - On the contrary, it feels much worse - how is your back, better? - On the contrary, much worse

Adverbs such as:

however, nevertheless, nevertheless - however, nevertheless, despite (this)

moreover, furthermore, in addition - in addition, in addition

by contrast/in contrast, by comparison/in comparison, on the other hand - in contrast to something; compared to anything

first, for example, for instance - firstly, for example

can be used both at the beginning and in the middle of a sentence:

A spokesman said, however, that the two men had not reached agreement on the issues discussed... – the spokesman said, however, that the two did not reach agreement on the issues discussed...

However, for many Americans today, weekend work has unfortunately become the rule rather than the exception - however, for many Americans today, weekend work, unfortunately, has become the rule rather than the exception

The same rule applies to adverbial phrases:

fortunately - happily, fortunately

admittedly - generally known, admittedly; really, I must say

surprisingly - amazingly, amazingly; suddenly

frankly - openly, publicly; frankly

Fortunately, the weather that winter was reasonably mild - fortunately, the weather that winter was quite mild

Adverbial expressions of time can be used either with or without a comma. If the turn is long, then a comma is used in English, and if it is short, then it is absent:

In 1997 we spent our holiday at the seaside - in 1997 we spent our holiday at sea

In the wet and rainy summer of 1997, we spend our holiday at the seaside - we spent our holiday at sea in the summer of 1997, which turned out to be wet and rainy

Comma in English when listing

When there are only two items in the enumeration list, use and/or:

Mix the ingredients and pour over the mushrooms – mix the ingredients and pour over the mushrooms

If there are more than two items in the listing, then a comma in English is used between the first two elements and and/or before the last element. The use of a comma in English before and/or is typical in American English:

He speaks English, French, German and a little Italian

He speaks English, French, German, and a little Italian - he speaks English, French, German and a little Italian.

Correct use of commas in English will make your writing more literate (which is very important in

Almost everyone today learns English in one way or another - but not everyone, even having received a higher education, can write a letter or essay in it correctly. Most likely, the fact is that neither at school nor at university they often explain to us the most important things: how to put commas or quotation marks, how a phrase is structured, how to use specific grammatical phrases. Based on the course of Mt. San Jacinto College (California, USA) “Theories and Practices” has collected nine tips for Russian-speaking authors who want to learn to write in English.

Inflexible Order: How to Use Inversion in English

Translators of fiction say that English syntax almost always needs to be restructured: divided into parts, translated and rebuilt again without losing meaning - this time in Russian. This is because the English sentence has a strict structure - direct word order: subject, predicate, object. You can say: “I really think you’re right,” but you cannot put the predicate before the subject, as in Russian.

Nevertheless, inversion in English can still be found:

1) in the case of the phrases “there is” and “there are”: “There is a frog in your bed” (“There is a frog in your bed”);

2) after direct speech: “Punk is musical freedom,” said Kurt Cobain (“Punk is freedom in music,” said Kurt Cobain);

3) in sentences that begin with “here”: “Here is your tea, Hatter” (“Here is your tea, Hatter”);

4) in conditional sentences with verbs “was”, “were”, “had”, “could”, “should”: “Had I thought better, I wouldn’t marry her” (“If I thought better, I would did not marry her");

5) in complex sentences that begin with the words “hardly”, “scarcely”, “no sooner”, “never”, “nothing”, “not only”: “Never had I seen such a terrible sofa” (“I’m in I have never seen such a terrible sofa in my life");

7) emphatic inversion is also used within the framework of the phrase “It is / was... that / who / whom”: “It was me who found her lover in a wardrobe”: “It was I who found her lover in the closet”).

Qualifying clause: how to put a comma before “which” and “that”

Among the types of subordinate clauses in English there are the so-called Adjective Subordinate Clauses, which define the characteristics of a noun and begin with the recognizable relative pronouns “who”, “whom”, “that”, “which”, “whose”, “when” " and "where". A clause can be restrictive or non-restrictive. The first reduces all possible characteristics of a noun to one, the most important, and the second simply notes one of the many properties of an object or subject. To understand how such clauses work, you can compare two phrases:

1) “Mary Jane fell in love with a guy who was wearing a strange red and blue costume. It was Spider-Man" (“Mary Jane fell in love with a guy dressed in a strange red and blue suit. It was Spider-Man”). This is a restrictive clause, since it is the strange suit in this case that distinguishes the above-mentioned guy from all the other guys in the city.

2) “Mary Jane fell in love with a guy who was wearing a strange red and blue costume, which was wet. It was Spider-Man" (“Mary Jane fell in love with a guy dressed in a strange red and blue suit that was all wet. It was Spider-Man”). This is a non-restrictive clause, since the author is simply adding an additional characteristic to the description of the costume.

Why do you need to know all this? The fact is that a non-restrictive clause requires a comma, but a restrictive clause does not. Most often, the word “which” indicates the presence of a non-restrictive clause, and the word “that” - the presence of a restrictive one. That is, before “which” a comma is most often needed, but before “that” - most often not.

Inverted clause: why a comma is not needed before “because”, but after it is necessary

Another type of subordinate clauses in English is called adverb subordinate clauses. They define the characteristics of a verb and describe how, when, why, where and under what conditions something happens or someone does something.

Subordinate adverbial clauses can be recognized by subordinating conjunctions

as, because, since, though, although, even, even if, if, unless, when, whenever, while, rather than, in order that, so that, before, once, after, until.

Adverbial clauses require a comma only if they precede the main clause. Compare:

1) “Because he was a freak, I broke up with him” (“Because he was a freak, I broke up with him”). You need to put a comma here.

2) “I broke up with him because he was a freak” (“I broke up with him because he was a freak”). There is no need to put a comma here.

Authors often move the adverbial clause to the beginning of the sentence to add emphasis or clarify their position. However, there are exceptions to this punctuation rule: if the subordinate clause is located after the main clause, but at the same time contrasts with it or contradicts it, a comma must still be inserted:

“Thor saved the planet again, whereas his brother Loki tried to master it and destroyed New York.”

Thinking like a Foreigner: How to Use Absolute Speech

One of the mistakes that can be made in the process of learning English is to try to understand its grammar at the expense of knowledge about Russian grammar. When learning a new language, you should not often compare it with your native one, even if they belong to the same language group (which cannot be said about Russian and English: the first is part of the East Slavic subgroup, and the second is in the West Germanic subgroup), squeezing foreign grammar into a familiar scheme or translating phrases by words without changing the construction of the phrase.

To sound more authentic, you need to get used to using English grammatical forms right away. For example, an absolute phrase would be suitable - Absolute Phrase. By the way, a phrase in English is a construction in which there is no subject and predicate; a subordinate clause (clause) is a subordinate clause subordinate to the main one, and a sentence (sentence) is an independent simple or complex sentence.

Absolute turnover cannot be translated into Russian literally. “His feet rooted to the spot, Lestrade waited for Holmes to give him a sign”: “Lestrade stood rooted to the spot and waited for Holmes to give him a sign.” Nevertheless, it is convenient to use this technique in speech and writing. An absolute phrase must contain at least a noun and a participle. It can be built on the basis of one of two forms of participle: -ing (Present Participle - present participle) or -ed (Past Participle - past participle). The absolute phrase is especially useful when the author is describing an object or situation that he observes up close.

Do this: verb as subject

A verb in English, as in Russian, can act as a subject, not only in the form of a gerund (“running”), but also in the form of an infinitive (“to run”). Contrary to school instincts that may tell us to always use the gerund, it is worth remembering that English grammar allows for a second option:

“To run a marathon has always been his dream, although he has been born in a tiny mountain village where there are no level roads”: “He always dreamed of running a marathon, although he was born in a small mountain village where there are no level roads.”

Separator: How to Use a Semicolon

In Russian, commas often serve as grammatical or even intonation separators. But in English this is a mistake. In the sentence “I saw a sad man sitting next to the window, it was Jim Carrey” (“I saw a sad man sitting at the window, it was Jim Carrey”) the punctuation mark is incorrect. Here you need to put not a comma, but a semicolon: “I saw a sad man sitting next to the window; it was Jim Carrey."

The semicolon plays a big role in the English punctuation system - it is no coincidence that this sign is placed on one of the easily accessible keys of the Latin computer keyboard, while on the Cyrillic keyboard it is moved to the top, numeric line. A semicolon separates simple sentences into complex ones unless they are separated by a conjunction; nevertheless, even if a union is present, this sign can be placed. To understand whether you can use a semicolon, it is often enough to ask yourself whether you can put a period instead, dividing the sentence into two independent fragments: “I saw a sad man sitting next to the window. It was Jim Carrey" (“I saw a sad man sitting by the window. It was Jim Carrey”).

Crooked speech: how not to make a mistake with quotation marks

The format of direct speech in English differs from the Russian version. Here, the final punctuation mark in a remark - an exclamation mark, a question mark or a period - is placed inside, not outside, the quotation marks. "It was a real shame." (“It was really embarrassing.”)

In addition, in English there is no need to put a colon or dash before or after direct speech: here you can get by with a comma: “It was a real shame,” said Hulk.” will look similar: Hulk said, “It was a real shame.” (Hulk said, "It was really embarrassing.")

Oxford comma: serial comma

Oxford comma (Oxford comma), or Harvard comma (Harvard comma), is a comma that is placed before the conjunction in listings. It can be used when there are three or more elements in a list of objects, before the conjunctions and, or, or nor. "Jason wanted to hit his boss on the head, kick the bejesus out of him, and hang them on a chandelier, but decided to say nothing." but he decided not to say anything").

Despite its name, the serial comma is more common in American English than in British English. Some authors from the UK advise using it only to avoid ambiguity, while American teachers sometimes insist on the mandatory use of such commas.

Interesting proposal: how to build a replica with different types of communication

In English, a sentence can be of four different types:

Simple sentence: subject and predicate;

Compound sentence: two independent simple sentences connected by a conjunction;

Complex sentence: main and subordinate clause connected by a conjunction;

Complex sentence with different types of connection (compound-complex sentence): two independent simple sentences connected by a conjunction, one of which is joined by a subordinate clause:

“You could fly to Madrid, or you could go to London by rail since the tickets are so cheap.”

This scheme does not entirely agree with the structure of grammar familiar to a Russian-speaking person, but this is rather a plus: such facts, as a rule, help to switch to a foreign language system and begin to think within its framework. It is especially important to use complex sentences with different types of connections in writing also because they allow you to practice the placement of commas. After all, in an English compound sentence a comma is needed, but in a complex clause (if the subordinate clause is located after the main clause) it is not.

How to distinguish a complex sentence from a complex sentence? There is one trick. In American universities they call it the “FANBOYS list”. Conjunctions that indicate the equality of simple sentences within a complex sentence are easy to recognize:

If your sentence contains one of the representatives of FANBOYS, it is complex, and then you need to put a comma before the conjunction: “I saw a goose on the riverside, and it was very angry” (“On the river bank I saw a goose, and he was very angry ").

A complex sentence, when the subordinate clause in it follows the main one, does not require a comma: “I went away because the goose seemed to be dangerous.” It is worth remembering, however, that if the subordinate clause comes first, then a punctuation mark will need to be added: “Because the goose seemed to be angry, I went away” (“This goose seemed dangerous, and I left”).

Icons: 1), 3), 5), 7), 9) athanagore x, 2), 6) Marek Polakovic, 4) James Fenton, 8) Christian Wad, - from the Noun Project.