The Russian language is rich not only in synonyms and sayings, but also in lexical and syntactic dilemmas, around which there are always a lot of questions. It would seem, why would anyone know for sure and for sure what part of speech the phrase “unfortunately” is? Indeed, he would be left alone if only the correct answer to this question did not affect the spelling. And since everyone who wants to write their mother tongue at least a little wants to write correctly, it is very necessary to understand this issue.
Possible options
To determine what part of speech the phrase “unfortunately” is, first you need to find out what part of speech it can even be. There are few options. More precisely, there are only two of them.
First, "unfortunately" can be a noun in the dative case with the preposition "k". For instance:
- His actions were selfish and self-confident, and therefore led to the misfortune of his entire family.
Secondly, this phrase can be an introductory word. For instance:
- Unfortunately, we were not able to meet with him, which we regretted in a timely manner when he left the country, promising never to return.
In the first case, the word "misfortune" retains all the grammatical signs, performs the function of the corresponding part of speech, and so on. In the second - on the contrary, nothing like this is assigned to the phrase.
How to determine?
Determining which part of speech is the phrase “unfortunately” is not difficult. It is most convenient to determine by meaning. In the role of an introductory word, the phrase “unfortunately” expresses the author’s assessment of what happened, it can be replaced by “unfortunately”, “to my chagrin”, “sadly” and other introductory words with a corresponding emotional coloring.
- Unfortunately, the weather spoiled all our plans, and instead of having to go on a picnic outside the city, we had to stay home.
Part of the speech of the phrase "unfortunately" significantly changes its meaning. In the role of a noun, this phrase denotes a direct consequence of any act, a real unpleasant event, but not an author’s assessment.
For instance:
- My friends were not ready for misfortune, but still steadfastly endured all the trials that fate presented them.
In the second case, “unfortunately” can be replaced by “to a sad event”, “to a sad consequence”, “to trouble”. In addition, between the preposition and the noun, you can add other words that are meaningful. For instance:
- The businessman did not expect that his actions would lead to such a terrible, fatal, unexpected misfortune.
Why is this needed?
The question of why you need to know which part of speech the phrase “unfortunately” is used often appears. The answer is simple: to write correctly in Russian and put punctuation marks without errors.
When "unfortunately" is a noun, no signs are required either before or after it. For instance:
- If we could always prepare in advance for the misfortune that is destined for us by fate, life would become much easier, but at the same time much more boring.
And vice versa, when "unfortunately" acts as an introductory word, it must be highlighted with commas on both sides. By the way, this should be done in general with all introductory words and sentences. For instance:
- Unfortunately, our colleagues had to cancel the meeting, but we still hope that they will change their attitude to this issue and change their minds.
To summarize
In fact, this dilemma surrounding the phrase “unfortunately” only seems difficult. As you can see, it can easily be resolved if you pay attention to the meaning of the phrase in the sentence and analyze each case individually. Over time, this will become a habit, and it will become very easy to determine a part of speech, as if “on the machine”.