In their speech, people quite often use introductory constructions to show their attitude to what exactly they are talking about. When writing, the introductory turn must be highlighted with commas, and in oral speech such a turn should be highlighted intonationally. Let us consider in more detail some of the rules and features of using this type of construction.
Determining the opening turnover
Introductory turnover - these are words, phrases and whole sentences that reflect the speaker's attitude to what he is talking about, or indicate the source of information. These phrases are part of the sentence, but are not their members, and also do not enter into a syntactic relationship with other members of the sentence and are not members of the sentence at all.
How to define opening constructions
Since the same words can act both as an introductory construction and as an ordinary member of a sentence, you need to know how exactly such phrases can be defined in Russian. Examples will help you better understand this issue:
- Wo-First, if we discard the introductory construction from the text, then the meaning of the text will not be lost. Compare: "The enterprise may have already been reorganized" and "The enterprise may still be reorganized." In the first case, this word is introductory, since the meaning of the sentence will not be lost, which does not apply to the second option. However, this method of verification is not always correct, since the structure may be preserved. In this case, you should pay attention to the meaning of the phrase. For example: "Thus this problem was solved." If “in this way” is understood as “in this way”, then this is not an introductory phrase, but if it is understood as “so”, then this turn of speech should be considered introductory and it must be separated with a comma.
- Secondly, introductory words are not members of the sentence and therefore it is impossible to put a question to them or from them. Compare: "I seem to understand everything now" and "She seems a little tired to me." In the first case, it is impossible to ask a question to the word "seems" and in this case it is an introductory word. In the second case, you can ask the question "What is he doing?", and the word "seems" acts as a predicate.
- Thirdly, one introductory word or phrase in a sentence can be easily replaced by another without losing the meaning of the entire sentence. For example: "She may have called her father herself and told her what happened." In this variant, when replacing “possibly” with “probably”, the meaning of the entire sentence will not be lost.
Also, when used as introductory constructions, some words and phrases maylittle difficulty arises. Let's take a closer look at each of them.
Words: by the way, in general, in short, in fact, in essence, in truth, more precisely - as introductory words
Words: by the way, in general, in short, in fact, in essence, in truth, more precisely - will be used in a sentence as introductory, if “saying” can be added to them according to the meaning. Compare: “By the way, we are going to go to the forest tomorrow” and “This outfit came in handy for her.” Obviously, in the first case, the word "by the way" is introductory, since "saying" can be added to it, and it must be separated from both sides by commas.
Features of using "however" as an introductory word
"However" can act both as a union and as an introductory word. If “however” can be completely replaced by the word “but”, then in this case it is a union. For example, we wanted to visit, but bad weather ruined our plans.
If the word "however" is in the middle or at the end of a sentence and does not serve to connect two complex or parts of a sentence, then it acts as an introductory word and it is mandatory to highlight it in the text with commas. For example, we wanted to come to visit, but the rain, however, spoiled all our plans.
"Finally" as opening word
"Finally" can act as an introductory figure of speech. In this case, the word determines the order in which information is presented by the author. For example: "Firstly, he is young, secondly, he is strong, and finally, he is full of strength and energy."
If "finally" performs inas a circumstance of time and it can be replaced by “at the end” or “finally”, then this word is not an introductory one. For example: We walked for an incredibly long time and finally came out in the forest.
Phrases that are most often perceived as introductory constructions
Many believe that: literally, perhaps, in addition, as if, suddenly, in the end, ultimately, after all, here, after all, hardly, hardly, even, exactly, exclusively just, as if, besides, I suppose, meanwhile, by suggestion, by decision, by decree, approximately, approximately, therefore, moreover, almost, decisively, simply, supposedly, as if - these are introductory turns, but this is not so. These words and phrases do not act as introductory constructions and do not need to be separated by commas.
Types of introductory turns by their value
All introductory words and phrases are divided into several digits depending on what values express introductory turns of speech. Examples will clearly show the differences:
- Introductory phrases that express an assessment of the degree of reliability of information (confidence, doubt): undoubtedly, of course, indisputably, in all likelihood, it goes without saying, apparently, indeed, others. For example: "The villagers were all really nice people."
- Words that express the usual nature of the described event: it happens, it happens, as usual, as usual, as always, as usual, and others. For example: "The New Year's party is held, as always, in the assembly hall of the children'sgarden".
- Introductory constructions that express the emotions and feelings of the speaker: to joy, fortunately, unfortunately, to pleasure, to surprise, unfortunately, to amazement, to regret, to chagrin, to chagrin, uneven hour, strange thing, as if on purpose, what good. For example: "To my surprise, she came very quickly, and I did not have to wait long."
- Introductory words that indicate a sequence of thoughts: firstly, secondly, on the one hand, on the other hand, therefore, on the contrary, finally, on the contrary, in general, however, in particular, by the way, by the way, so, therefore, therefore, moreover, thus, for example, so. For example: "Her smile did not testify to a beautiful life, but, on the contrary, tried to hide all her misfortunes."
- Part of the introductory constructions indicates the nature of the statement: in a word, in a word, generally speaking, in short, so to speak, in other words, it is better to say, in other words, to put it mildly, roughly speaking, between us, to tell the truth, to say honestly, it's funny to say and others. For example: "To tell the truth, the dinner prepared by the new chef didn't make much of an impression on me."
- Introductory constructions indicating the source of the reported information: according to the message, according to, according to opinion, according to information, according to rumors, in your opinion, in my opinion, they say, according to my calculations, they say, vision and others. For example: "According to the witness, the suspect was at home at the time of the crime."
- Introductory words that are directed toto the reader in order to attract his attention: see, see, understand, understand, understand, understand, excuse me, imagine, forgive, do me a favor, please, remember, remember, have mercy, agree, listen, allow, notice to yourself and others. For example: "Dumplings, you see, one of the most favorite dishes of students and bachelors."
Parts of speech in which introductory constructions can appear
All types of introductory constructions can appear in various parts of speech. According to this criterion, introductory constructions can be presented in such parts of speech as:
- noun with preposition: fortunately, for joy, no doubt;
- adjective: the most important, in general, the most;
- pronoun: meanwhile, besides, besides;
- adverb: of course, indisputably, undoubtedly, naturally;
- verb: seemed, think, say, suggest;
- infinitive: see, confess, know;
- combinations with gerunds: frankly, rudely speaking, speaking the truth;
- full sentences: I think he hopes as far as I can remember;
- impersonal sentences: everyone remembered well, it seemed to me that she dreamed;
- vaguely personal sentences: as usual, he was talked about, so he was thought of.
Punctuation marks when using introductory constructions
As mentioned earlier, introductory phrases and words in the text are separated by commas on both sides. In some cases, instead of one of the commas, there will bedashes are used. If the introductory phrase was not fully implemented, then put a dash after it. For example: "On the one hand, they didn’t let me go to the party, on the other hand, I couldn’t miss it in any way, because all my friends will be there."
If the introductory word is located in the text before the generalizing word, but before all homogeneous members of the sentence, then a dash should be used instead of the first comma. For example: "TV, telephone, computer, refrigerator - in a word, all appliances in the house worked properly, despite significant voltage drops in the morning."
Punctuation when using introductory sentences
There are several ways to highlight introductory sentences in the text:
- With commas. For example: "I'm sure she will be happy without me";
- Using brackets. This method of highlighting is used if the introductory sentence acts as additional comments or clarifications to the text. For example: "My appearance (I noticed) confused everyone around";
- With a dash. It is also used if the introductory sentence is an additional remark or clarification to the text. For example: "The customers - there were two of them - were very reserved."
Using adverbial phrases and introductory constructions
People sometimes confuse introductory turns and other speech turns in Russian. Many believe that the adverbial turnover is just a kind of introductory turnover, since these types of constructionsmuch in common. The use of adverbial phrases is similar to introductory sentences, moreover, if the adverbial phrase is omitted from the sentence, the meaning of the sentence will not change, just as when using introductory phrases. Despite this, these types of structures have a number of differences. Firstly, the adverbial turnover answers the question: “What did you do?” and “What are you doing?”, and it is impossible to put a question to the introductory phrase. Secondly, in the sentence, the adverbial turnover is determined by the circumstance, and the introductory constructions are not a member of the sentence.
Differences between phraseological and introductory phrases
Also, people often doubt sentences with phraseological units. Some try to take the phraseological turn as an introductory one. However, it is not. Phraseological turnover is a stable in structure and composition, as well as a lexically indivisible phrase, which is perceived as a single whole.
Unlike introductory constructions, phraseological turns of speech in Russian in writing should not be distinguished by punctuation marks at all. It is also possible to put a question to the phraseological turnover, and, therefore, this construction is a member of the sentence. Thus, sentences with phraseological units should not be confused with sentences with introductory constructions, because these are sentences with different types of constructions.
The difference between comparative and introductory turns
In addition to all the above types of structures with introductoryturns, they often confuse comparative turns and try to apply all the rules for them, as for introductory ones. Such structures are very different from each other. Comparative turnover, as well as phraseological and adverbial, is a member of the sentence, but always acts as a comparison. Comparative turns in Russian are not always distinguished by punctuation marks, so you can make a mistake by confusing a comparative turn with an introductory one.
All the above types of turns and the introductory turn have one thing in common - this is intonational emphasis. It is this selection, in the first place, that makes one doubt the correct definition of the introductory construction.
The use of introductory constructions in speech is simply necessary, because they indicate the emotional richness of the text and show the speaker's attitude to the object of the conversation. It will not be difficult to determine, as well as correctly highlight introductory phrases in the Russian language, if you know all the simple rules that were described in this article.
