In Russian, a special group of words adjoins homogeneous members of a sentence, which is called generalizing.
What are generalizations
Generalizing words are words or combinations of words that are generic concepts for words - homogeneous members of a sentence. In the sentence “There were different fruits on the table in a vase: bright red apples, honey-yellow pears, blue-violet large plums and grapes with transparent pink berries”, the word “fruits” can be considered as generic for the following homogeneous members - the names of varieties these fruits. Or, "Sacks of cement, stacks of bricks, piles of sand, and other building materials were neatly stacked along the wall." In this sentence, the phrase "building material" is generic for the listed items of this building material.
The role of generalizing words with homogeneous members of a sentence is to clarify the latter, to specify them. Thanks to their use, the meaning of the whole sentence becomes more accurate and understandable. In a sentencegeneralizing words are considered as the same members of the sentence as homogeneous ones. For example, in the sentence “With spring, distant winged travelers return to us: swift-winged swallows, sedate rooks, majestic storks”, the phrase “winged travelers” is the subject, as are the homogeneous members to which it refers.
Generalizing words, examples of which were given above, were expressed by nouns. In addition, such parts of speech as pronouns, adverbs can act as them: nobody, nobody, everything, all this, everywhere, nothing, etc.
Basic cases of punctuation for generalizing words
Depending on the location of homogeneous members in a sentence, punctuation marks such as dashes and colons are used in it.
- If generalizing words with homogeneous members are in the first place, then they are separated by a colon: “Water was everywhere: it rained tediously from the gray sky, poured down the collar under the trees, murmured from drainpipes, gurgled loudly underfoot.”
- When a generalizing word is in a sentence after homogeneous members, a dash is put in front of it: “Notebooks, books, a pencil case, a box of paints and a bunch of pencils - the kids gladly laid out all their school we alth on their desks.”
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generalizing words examples In the language there are constructions like: generalizing words - homogeneous members - other words in the sentence. In this case, a colon is placed after the generalizing words, andafter homogeneous members - a dash: "At any time of the year: in the winter cold and autumn wetness, in the spring thaw and summer dryness - our holy fool walked barefoot."
- It happens that after homogeneous members of a sentence there is an introductory word or phrase (in one word; in a word; therefore; in short), and after - a generalizing one. In this case, a dash is placed before the introductory part, and after it a comma: “In the bitter smell of fallen leaves, in the thought of fires in the yards, in the special freshness of the evening air - in a word, the approach of autumn was clearly felt in everything.”
- When homogeneous members are located in the middle of a sentence and are of a clarifying nature of meaning, logically highlighting a generalizing word, then two dashes are put in the sentence: “Usually from the neighboring villages - Ivanovka, Gluschevka, Verkhnevodya - peasants came to the fair in advance.”
