In order to make it easier to convey to the listener the meaning of what was said, the Russian language uses uniform sentence members. Compare: “A shady forest is calling a traveler. Shady forest beckons the traveler. The shady forest promises coolness. ” Or the same, but filed in one sentence: "The shady forest calls, beckons the traveler and promises coolness."
Sentence with homogeneous predicates, examples which you will see in this article helps to simplify the semantic load, while eliminating the need to pile several syntactic constructions in the text.
Features of the composition of simple sentences
You probably know how simple sentences differ from complex ones. The former have only one grammatical basis, which, as a rule, includes the subject and predicate (or one of these members). And complex sentences of such bases can have two or more.
But in addition to the above-mentioned ways of expressing thoughts in Russian, there are also so-called complicated constructions. That is, those that include, for example, homogeneous members. So, a simple sentence with homogeneous predicates “This lecture is interesting and informative” is not quite simple. It will be considered complicated in Russian grammar.
By the way, there is still a complication with introductory words or sentences, as well as isolations, appeals, etc. We will dwell on the first version of complicated constructions.
Key features of uniformity for proposal members
But before we start discussing homogeneous subjects and predicates, let's recall the general rules that apply to all members of a sentence.
The main sign of homogeneity for both the main and secondary members of any sentence is that they will be equal in this construction, performing one syntactic function, referring to one member in the sentence and, correspondingly, answering the same question.
Between them, regardless of the part of speech, there is either a composing or non-union syntactic connection, emphasizing their equality. The first is expressed, as a rule, with the help of the intonation of enumeration and compositional unions, and the union-free connection is expressed only intonationally.
Which predicates can be uniform
And the secondary members, and the subject, and the predicate in the Russian language, becoming in a series of homogeneous, nevertheless can have dependent words (however, the same applies to the secondary members). For example: "The girl looked out the window and sighed." There are two homogeneous predicates in this sentence (looked and sighed), but at the same time the first of them is distributed by the complement (out the window), and the second has no dependent words.
Most often, all homogeneous members of a sentence - a predicate, subject, or others - belong to one part of speech, but there are also constructions in which they can refer to different grammar classes, expressed by phraseological units or phrases.
For example, in the sentence “Andrei joked and laughed to tears”, the predicates are expressed by a verb (joked) and a phraseological phrase (laughed to tears), which does not prevent them from being homogeneous.
How a series of homogeneous members is arranged grammatically
For the grammatical union of homogeneous members in a sentence, both enumerative intonation and conjunctions are used. The latter can be connecting (and, yes), opposing (a, but), and also separating (or, or). In the example “She either speaks on the phone or runs to her friends”, the main member of the sentence - the predicate - is connected by the separation union “or”. And in the example: “This boy is small, but smart” they are joined by the opposing union “but”.
Comma between homogeneous subject and predicate
The main punctuation rule when writing homogeneous members of a sentence is that, in the absence of unions, a comma is placed between them. Homogeneous predicates are no exception. The examples “Rain whispered, cradled, cast to the truth”, “Under the sun, the drops shone, poured and seemed silver” confirm this.
But note that in the second sentence between two of the three predicates there is a creative union “and”, which excludes the comma. True, this is possible only if it is not repeated, otherwise you will have to pay attention to the subtleties.
When a comma is placed in sentences with repeating unions
In the design “Both his hands, and his face, and his clothes were covered with a thick layer of soot,” the homogeneous subjects were connected by a repeating union of “and,” and this case already requires a comma between them.
In a situation where the union breaks up homogeneous members into semantic pairs, each of them is taken as a single component from a homogeneous series: “Squeals and screams, laughter and footsteps were heard through the dissolved window and beckoned into the yard”.
Note that the homogeneous subject and predicate in this design are connected in different ways: the subject “screeching and screaming”, “laughter and tramp” are paired, and there is a comma between them. And between the predicates “were heard” and “beckoned” there is a creative union, therefore a comma is not needed there.
A comma is also put in sentences where homogeneous members are joined by the so-called double unions (not only ... but also ...; not so much ... how much ...; if not ... then ... etc.).
Please note that in the sentence “Snow covered not only the front lawn, but also hung on the trees with a white blanket” and the like, a comma in a double union is placed in front of its second part.
Comma in sentences with multiple rows of homogeneous members
A sentence with homogeneous predicates (examples you can see in the article) in some cases has several rows of homogeneous members. They need to be distinguished from designs where there is only one such series, and between uniform members there are repeated alliances.
In the sentence “A cat and a dog lived peacefully and did not quarrel in this house” there are 2 rows of homogeneous members (the subject - “a cat and a dog”, as well as the predicates - “lived and did not quarrel”). They are combined in pairs by the connecting union “and”, which means that the comma is not put in this construction.
Sentence with homogeneous predicates: examples of the colon with the main members of the sentence
A number of homogeneous members of a sentence, regardless of the part of speech in which they are expressed, can carry words with a generalizing meaning and equally related to each lexical unit from this series. For example, in the sentence “On the counter bright heaps of fruit were poured: apples, pears, plums and peaches” the generalizing word “fruits” carries a generic term.
If a generalizing word is included in a simple sentence with homogeneous predicates or other sentence members , a colon is placed after it. When reading, as a rule, a pause is made in this place: “Mom managed to do everything: cook dinner, wash, wipe dust and sing songs.”
By the way, the generalizing word always turns out to be the same member of the sentence as the homogeneous terms that are with it, since they have one syntactic function.
Dash examples for the main terms of a sentence
If the homogeneous series ends with a generalizing word, then it is separated by a dash: "And the milk, and berries, and mushrooms - everything in the village seemed especially tasty." “Her slender arms, curls at her temples, even flowers on her dress — everything aroused delight and seemed beautiful” - the homogeneous predicates here are separated from the homogeneous subject to the dash, because after them stands a generalizing word.
Together with the generalizing word, an introductory word can also be used (that is, in one word, namely, somehow, etc.), then a comma is placed between them: “Neither fleeting glances, nor a sudden blush, nor sighs - in a word, nothing not escaped his attentive eyes. "
Some Dash Cases
A dash with homogeneous terms can stand not only in the case of an enumeration. So, if homogeneous predicates carry a sharp semantic contrast of one in relation to another or a sudden connection, a dash is put between them: “I went out into the garden and froze when I saw a squirrel on the roof of the gazebo”. The dash in such sentences emphasizes the unexpectedness, suddenness of the action: "The Prince met Cinderella - and immediately fell in love with her."
By the way, if homogeneous members do not have alliances among themselves, but at the same time express opposition, they are also divided by a dash: "He is light - he is darkness, he is faith - he is unbelief."
How to recognize heterogeneous and homogeneous predicates: examples
If words are used in a sentence to emphasize the multiplicity of objects, duration of action or its repeatability, such members of the sentence belong to homogeneous ones.
Please note: "We sailed, sailed, sailed in a thick impenetrable fog." What is said in Russian in such a construction is considered as a single member of the sentence.
The lexical forms that are connected by particles of “not” and “like” cannot be considered homogeneous (look do not look, walk like walk and the like). These stable combinations are not separated by a comma.
Nor can parts of a compound predicate, which is expressed by a combination of verbs, be homogeneous members (I’ll go take a rest, let me see it, take it and complain, etc.). A construction with them cannot be considered as a sentence with homogeneous predicates.
Examples of sentences with phraseological turns (neither give nor take, neither fish nor meat, and laughter and sin, etc.) are classified by the same criteria.