The opinions of linguists about what a participle is are divided. Some believe that it refers to a special form of the verb, others suggest that it is an independent part of speech. We will support the second option.
The participle is an independent part of speech. It contains the signs of an adverb and a verb, shows when, why and how the action is performed by the verb-predicate, has an additional effect. If the gerund in a sentence is not alone, but has words that depend on it, then this set of words is called a gerund. The article will tell you how and when the gerunds are separated in a sentence.
What is isolation?
In Russian, the concept of isolation is a way of clarifying and highlighting a certain set of words in a sentence. Only members of the proposal that are secondary can be isolated, and this is how they differ from non-isolated members. Separations are necessaryso that the reader can more accurately understand the described picture of the ongoing action. Not only standing gerunds can stand apart, but also gerunds.
Examples of single gerunds
If an isolated circumstance does not have dependent words in the sentence, then it is called a single gerund. When writing a sentence, this part of speech is always separated by commas on both sides.
The location of the gerund in a sentence can be any. Here are examples of the correct selection of single gerunds with commas:
- Staring at her, she couldn't speak.
- When I returned, I found my sister at home.
- Without exercising, you cannot succeed in sports.
Accordingly, the following gerunds were highlighted with a comma:
- staring;
- back;
- not exercising.
There are several repeated participles in the letter. They are called homogeneous. At the same time, they are separated by commas among themselves and separated by this punctuation mark as separate parts of speech. Examples of such sentences:
- Laughing, singing and spinning, Natasha hurried to her first date.
- Laughing and winking, Pasha closed the door.
- She remained silent, angry but cowardly.
Homogeneous participles in a sentence can refer to different predicates. For example: Playing and laughing, she, inspired, rushed towards her dreams.
Separation by commas of singlegerunds
Separation of single gerunds occurs in the following cases:
- If the gerund plays the role of the second predicate in the sentence. Stores the meaning of the verb. Indicates the condition, cause, or time of an action, but not its image. Having escaped, Marina lost her purse. After the holiday, the guests left without calming down.
- If you can check the sentence in your mind by replacing the gerund with a verb, or make a complex one from a simple sentence. When Marina ran away, she rubbed her purse. The guests after the holiday, though not calmed down, but dispersed.
Separation of single gerunds does not occur if:
- The single gerund has lost its verbal meaning or has a close connection with the predicate. Masha ran into the room without knocking. Zhenya got down from the tree silently and slowly.
- If gerunds are circumstances of the manner of action and they cannot be replaced by verbs. Zhenya tears silently and did not hurry.
- If a single gerund can be replaced by a noun. Masha ran into the room without knocking.
Isolation of single participles depending on their location in the sentence
Separation of gerunds may not occur if they are at the beginning or end of a sentence, but in the middle they are separated by commas. Compare two sentences:
- Tanya tried on slippers slowly.
- On the way, slowly, Tanya admired the flowers.
In the first sentence, the separation of the participle with commas is not done, since it is represented by the circumstance of the imageactions. It can be replaced by the word - "slowly".
In the second sentence, the gerund is the adverb of reason ("because I was in no hurry").
How is the participle formed?
If the sentence contains a part of speech that answers the questions “what are you doing?”, “what are you doing?” and called a gerund, with dependent words, then this set of words is commonly called a gerund.
In a sentence, this turnover always performs the function of a circumstance and refers to the verb, as it denotes an additional action. Additional actions are performed by the same person, phenomenon or object that perform the main actions.
Examples of adverbial phrases
Separation of gerunds and participles occurs regardless of where they stand in relation to the verb-predicate. For example:
- Dark clouds have been moving across the sky all day, now opening the sun, then closing it again.
- Walking next to his mother, the baby looked at her with surprise and fascination.
- Joy, bringing happiness to some people, gave others inescapable grief.
- I watched the sunrise without taking my eyes off it.
- The baby, following his mother's hand, did the same movements.
What do you need to remember when using gerunds and participles in a sentence?
Basic rules for the use of adverbial phrases whenwriting text as follows:
- Expressed by a verb-predicate, the main action and the additional action, expressed by a participle, must refer to the same person, object or phenomenon.
- Most often, the isolation of circumstances expressed by gerunds and participles is used when writing a one-part, definitely personal sentence, as well as with a verb in the imperative mood.
- If the sentence is impersonal in the infinitive, then it is also possible to use the participle.
- The separation of gerunds and the isolation of circumstances are one and the same thing, since the gerund expresses a sign of a circumstance in a sentence.
In what cases are gerunds and participles not separated by commas?
Separation of circumstances expressed by gerunds and participles is not made if:
- Circumstances are connected by the union "and" with a non-isolated circumstance or predicate. She hated him and accepted his attentions. Dasha played noisily and screamed with joy.
- Circumstances converge with adverbs. They lose their added value and acquire the value of a sign of action. This is:
- general participles that have become phraseological turns (without closing your eyes, rolling up your sleeves, headlong, opening your mouth and others). For example: Petya worked carelessly. But: rolling up her sleeves, she washed her hands in the tub. It should be remembered that phraseological introductory phrases (apparently, in other words, in fact, others) are separated by a comma.
- general participles that carry the main semantic load. Without them, the predicate does not fully express the thought. This part of speech usually comes after the predicate. The "adverb" of these gerunds is obvious in sentences where there is a group of homogeneous members - gerunds and adverbs. For example: He answered me without embarrassment and frankly. Not embarrassed - this is a participle, but frankly - an adverb.
Commas do not separate gerunds in the subordinate clause that have the dependent word "which" in all its variations. He wanted to get rid of the letter, reading which he recalled his recent grief.
What should gerunds be distinguished from
Separating gerunds, many do not think that these can be adverbs or prepositions.
The following adverbs are distinguished:
- clover;
- sneak;
- joking;
- silent;
- sitting;
- standing;
- lying and others.
Generic participles that are the same as these words retain an additional effect. This happens during the formation of a participial turnover and connection with other participles. Anya rode standing all the way. He will do this job jokingly (easily). These sentences use adverbs.
Standing on top, Anya looked down. All the way, having fun and playing, Yana did not close her mouth. In these sentences, commas separate the participle in the first sentence and the homogeneous participles in the second sentence.
From the prepositions are distinguished: starting with, based on. No commas are included becausethe adverbial part can be removed from the sentence and its meaning will not change. It's been snowing since night (it's snowing since night).
Separation of participles and gerunds: what's the difference?
The participial and adverbial phrases perform different functions in a sentence and have their following morphological differences:
- The participial turnover or single participle refers to the word being defined (noun or pronoun). The participle or participle turnover is closely related to the verb-predicate. At the same time, the participle changes in numbers, genders, cases, has a full and short forms, and the participle is an invariable word form.
- The participial phrase and participle function as a definition in a sentence, while the gerund and participle phrases act as different circumstances.
- Different participles and participles with suffixes. Participles have such suffixes as -usch-(-yusch-), -ash-(-yashch)- -vsh-, -sh- y real participles and -om-(-em-), -im-- -enn-, -nn-, -t- in the suffering. While gerunds have the following suffixes: -a-, -ya-, -uchi-, -yuchi-, -v-, -lice-, -shi-.
Rules for separating gerunds
- If there is a conjunction next to the adverbial phrase in a sentence, then they are separated by a comma. Unions and allied words are not included in circulation. For example: He smiled at his friend and, jumping over a puddle, ran home. The exception is the union "a", whichstands before adverbial turnover. In this case, it is included in the turnover. For example: A person needs to understand what the meaning of life is, and having understood this, he will tell others as well.
- If a sentence consists of several adverbial phrases or single adverbial adverbs, then commas are placed between them as when listing homogeneous members of the sentence. For example: She approached, staggering and holding her friend by the shoulder with one hand, and kept the other on her belt.
- If there are several adverbial phrases related to different predicates in one sentence, then each of them is separated by commas. For example: Pushing the gate with his foot, he ran out onto the road and, ignoring the people, rushed away.
- The adverbial phrase is always separated by commas on both sides.
Separation of gerunds will not cause problems if you learn how to correctly identify this part of speech in any sentence.
How can I help my child consolidate what they have learned?
After the child has studied the theoretical material, he should be invited to consolidate it with practical exercises.
Initially, children should work with sentences orally and learn to find adverbial phrases and single adverbs in them. After that, students should be asked to write sentences and put punctuation marks in them. In addition, the child must explain their choice of commas.
After the children have mastered simple sentences, you can give them sentences with unions and alliedwords. At the same time, before finding a participle or a single participle, one should highlight the grammatical basis.
Complicate the task with complex compound sentences that have several grammatical bases and homogeneous adverbial phrases.
