Proper punctuation is impossible without understanding the syntax of simple and complex sentences. In some cases, a comma is placed automatically: for example, before coordinating conjunctions like a, but. Often indicate the need to put a punctuation mark, speech pauses, as well as intonation when enumerating (homogeneous members).
In most obscure situations, putting a comma, dash or colon is still closely related to parsing.
In general, any members of a sentence can be isolated, as well as plug-in constructions such as invocations and introductory words. Accordingly, before putting this or that punctuation mark, you need to mentally analyze the sentence and find the construction that needs to be isolated.
Sentences with isolated definitions are very common. It is understandable: without words that characterize objects from different angles, speech would be inaccurate and inexpressive.
The definition is easy to find in a sentence on questions of adjectives. This member of the sentence is expressed in partsspeech denoting a sign of an object (adjectives, participles, ordinal numbers) or pointing to it (pronouns). But any significant parts of speech can actually act as a definition (inconsistent).
A separate definition is, as is clear from the above, a member of the sentence to which the questions are suitable: “what?”, “what?”, "what?", "what?". Depending on the place in the syntactic construction, such a definition is distinguished by punctuation marks: at the beginning or end of the sentence - one comma, in the middle - two.
Students often mentally put an equal sign between participial turnover and a separate definition. They are partly right - the structure of a sentence with separate definitions often includes a participle with dependent words. But, firstly, such a definition does not always need to be separated by commas, and, secondly, single participles and adjectives are also separated. For example, if non-common definitions (two or more) are after the main word:
Sailor, experienced and brave, returned from circumnavigation.
The sun, bright, dazzling, gradually went below the horizon.
There is another myth about sentences with separate definitions. Remembering that the participial turnover is highlighted only after the main word, students forget about definitions with the meaning of circumstance or addition. Such constructions require a comma, regardless of the position of the word being defined.
An example of a similar sentence with separate definitions:
Pretty tired from the chase, the horse slowed down. (That is, the horse began to run more slowly because it was tired of the chase - adverbial meaning.)
It also doesn't matter where the participial phrase or single participle (rarely an adjective) is, if they refer to a personal pronoun:
Disappointed by yesterday's incident, we walked in silence and barely spoke.
Joyful and excited, he was excitedly explaining something.
Inconsistent definitions are isolated selectively, in cases where such a selection is justified by logical stress.
So, a sentence with a separate definition is easy to detect if you understand the syntactic function of this minor member, as well as the ways of expressing it. This is perhaps the main condition for the correct placement of punctuation marks.
