The union “and” is the most common in Russian. And although at first glance the punctuation rules associated with it seem very easy, in fact this is not so. It is far from always clear whether or not a comma is appropriate for this union, because there are many pitfalls, even if we are talking about the syntactic unit of a simple construction. So, when to put a comma before “and”? Consider this issue in detail.
Simple sentence. Situations when the comma is not appropriate
When is a comma placed before “and” in simple sentences? The union “and” in a simple sentence is most often used to join homogeneous members. And if there are only two, then they are not separated by a comma. Here is an example: "In winter and summer - in one color."
In addition, the unions "and" can connect different groups of homogeneous members. And then, despite the repetitions, this does not stand out in writing. For example: "In the house, under a decrepit and dirty table and sofa lay piles of garbage."
There are still situations when two closely related homogeneous terms in meaning are connected with the help of “and” with the third - grammatically homogeneous, but already bearing a different semantic load. In such sentences, a comma would be a mistake. Here is an example of such a design: "She crossed the threshold and entered the room and dressed lay on the bed."
Simple sentence. Situations when a comma is appropriate
As noted above, in sentences of a simple type, the union “and” is used to link members that are homogeneous. So when is a comma placed before the “and”? Below is a series of such situations:
- A comma before “and” is required if this union is used several times and serves to join three or more homogeneous members. For example: "And the mountains, and the forest, and the lawn with colorful flowers reminded of spring."
- The comma before the union “and” is put if there is a division of the double union “like that”, “once”, etc. For example: "She spoke quickly, enthusiastically, emotionally, and when she took breaks, she always could not catch her breath."
- The letter “and” is preceded by a comma in a simple sentence if two homogeneous members are separated by a complicating structure. For example: "The kitten ran to the boy, meowing loudly, and looked imploringly into his eyes."
- All homogeneous members of the sentence are separated by commas, in sentences of this type: "The cubes were presented to the baby, and the designer, and the huge bear, and the delicious, delicious cake." One of the most common mistakes is the lack of a punctuation mark in front of the second homogeneous term, which is connected to the first with the help of “and”. But just saying this sentence out loud, you can understand that a pause is asked before “and the constructor,” which means that the comma is appropriate.
Complicated sentence. Put a comma
When is a comma placed before “and” in sentences of complex type? In most complex syntactic units with a compound connection, the union “and” connecting their parts is separated by a comma in the letter. For example: "A strong wind blew, and the sailboat literally flew along the waves."
In this case, and similar to him, the union shares two complete thoughts, which may well exist as separate proposals, why the general meaning would not have changed. It is this moment that needs to be taken into account first of all, when the question arises: “Do I need a comma or not?” If a compound sentence can be painlessly divided into two or more, then yes - a comma is required. Here is an example when a repeating union of “and” combines three parts of a complex syntactic structure: “And the leaves fell, swirling, and the rain dripped sad, and the farewell cranes sent a cry.” This is a classic situation where you cannot do without a comma. There can be no exceptions here.
Complicated sentence. Cases when the comma before the union “and” is not needed
Many people who are not very sophisticated in grammar think that if a sentence is complex, then its parts are always disconnected by some punctuation mark. But this is not true. A comma before “and” in complex syntactic units is not set under the following circumstances:
- Simple constructions as a part of a complex compound have a common term. As a rule, it is a circumstance of time or place. For example: "In the morning it was cold and the rain poured out of a bucket."
- Parts of complex construction are impersonal sentences. For example: "Chilly and uncomfortable." Or: "You need to move the furniture and you have to move it out of the room."
- A comma between several parts of a compound sentence is not required if they express a question, an exclamation, or an urge to act. For example: "He came in and you cried?" Or: “Sing your crown and let everyone die with delight!” Or: “Love brings joy and there is no feeling in life more important than it!”
- Parts of a sentence have a common introductory word or expression. For example: “Of course, the investigation is over and the case has been submitted to court.”
Offers with subordination
In what cases is a comma preceded by an “and” in complex sentences? It should begin with the fact that “and” is a compositional union, and it cannot link parts that are in subordinate relations. It occurs in syntactic constructions of this type, only linking several relative clauses. And a comma between them is not needed if the subordinate clauses are homogeneous and have a common main part. For example: "The brother said that he was thinking of changing his job and that this plant was already sitting in his liver."
If there is no uniform dependence, then a comma should be applied. For example: "The brother said that he was thinking of changing his job, and his mother was delighted." In this case, we have a complex construction of a mixed type, which includes both subordinate and composing connections.
Also, commas are appropriate between homogeneous subordinate parts connected by a repeating union “and”. For example: “Such a rampant laughter engulfed a couple that both knees shook and real tears poured from my eyes.”
Turn on the logic
Even if you do not know the rules, of which there are a very large number, you can just think logically. There are two patterns:
- A comma is almost always in place of pauses (say the sentence out loud).
- Separate parts with different semantic contents (think logically).
A thoughtful and attentive approach to business will certainly give good results! And it will help to avoid mistakes.
Conclusion
There are a lot of rules that indicate in which cases a comma is placed before the “and”, and in which - not. And to learn everything is probably impossible. But even a dvoechik will be able to write a sentence without errors if he pronounces it out loud (or to himself) and connects the logic. Then he will not have a question: “When is a comma placed before“ and “?” Be careful and avoid mistakes.