Two sections of the science of language — syntax and punctuation — are always studied together. Simple cases of placing commas, for example, the mandatory comma before the compound unions A and BUT, usually do not cause difficulties. But to isolate the minor members of a sentence , knowledge of the basics of syntax is necessary.
Under a number of conditions, minor members can be separated by commas on both sides , including circumstance.
The circumstance in the sentence answers the questions of adverbs, since it denotes a sign of action or, much less often, a sign of a sign. Nevertheless, the role of circumstances can be played not only by an adverb, but also by any independent part of speech.
Separation of circumstances expressed by
adverbial turnover or solitary adverbial participation, although it has its own subtleties, is easily acquired by schoolchildren. The presence of participles in a sentence is a kind of signal for setting a comma.
Clarifying circumstance is another matter. Examples of this kind are more difficult to detect: they are not so obvious.
What is a clarifying circumstance?
The qualifying members, as is already clear from the term itself, specify the information contained in the proposal:
All childhood friends, (who exactly?) Especially Michael, are very dear to me.
Dark, (which specifically?) Almost coal-black, eyes stood out on his pale face.
A little girl rushed into the room, (which one specifically?) No older than our son.
Refinement is always separated by commas or dashes.
A separate clarifying circumstance in most cases specifies the time and place of action.
If we have before us a clarifying circumstance of time, then the proposal, in addition to it, should contain generalized information about when the action takes place:
The clarifying circumstance of the place details, narrows down information about where the event described in the sentence occurs:
Andrei lives very close to us, (where exactly?) A five-minute walk.
Ahead, (where exactly?) In the very center of the road, we noticed a huge foundation pit.
Geographic names and addresses are often specified:
Last summer, we returned from another city, (where exactly?) From Vladivostok.
My girlfriend moved to the Oktyabrsky district of Samara, (where exactly?) On Michurin Street.
More rarely, a clarifying circumstance of the mode of action is found:
The soldiers tried to talk as quietly as possible, (how exactly?) Almost in a whisper.
Perepelkin listened to me carefully, (how exactly?) With some special respect.
Clarifying circumstances are isolated with other meanings.
Understanding punctuation is important for the correct punctuation:
Artists performed in a square in the city center. (The area is located in the central part of the city)
On the square, in the city center, artists performed. (Artists perform in the square located in the city center).
A clue in isolating the qualifying sentence members is intonation. But focusing only on semantic pauses in the speech flow is not worth it; it is better to pay attention to the syntactic role of the structure and pick up a question for it.