Before the "or" comma. Comma before the union "or"

Is a comma preceded by an “or”? You will find the answer to this question in the materials of this article. In addition, you will learn about whether to put commas in front of the “what” and “how”.

general information

Surely you know that the union refers to the service part of speech. Thanks to her, a connection is formed between individual sentences in the text, its parts or words. However, not everyone knows when a comma is placed in front of them, and when not. In order to master this information, we present to your attention several basic rules.

When is a comma preceded by “or”, and when not?

The union “or” is a dividing union. Sometimes a comma is placed in front of him, and sometimes not. We consider both cases in more detail:

1. A “or” is preceded by a comma if the given union is repeatedly repeated in simple sentences that are combined into one complex one. Let's give an example: “Or he, or I!”, “Or black, or white, or red”, “Either the disease will kill me, or the frost will ossify, or something will fly into my forehead.” It should also be noted that this rule does not apply only to sentences with “either ... or”. Commas are also placed with such unions as “and”, “il”, “neither”, etc. For example: “And my head is spinning and nauseous, and my body aches a lot”, “I can not see the sun, nor the clouds, nor the light daytime. "
2. A “or” is preceded by a comma if this union is used in a complex sentence, where 2 or more simple sentences are connected. Let us give an example: “Either you are tired of the storm outside the window, or you doze from daytime fatigue,” “Let her move to the village, or I will move here.” It should also be noted that such alliances as “and”, “yes”, “a”, “yes and”, “either”, etc. obey the same rule. For example: “The sea was noisy, and the waves beat against the shore”, "The woodpecker stopped knocking, and the other birds fell silent," "Mom sat down on the bench outside the gate, and I went to the store."
   
3. The comma “or” is not put before the union if the sentences connected with it have a common minor member or subordinate clause. Here is an example: "Every day a catamaran departed from the pier or a boat sailed." The unions “and”, “yes”, “either” obey the same rule. For example: "Passenger cars drove through the streets and trucks raced."
4. A comma is not put if this union is used to connect homogeneous members of a sentence that are mutually exclusive. For example: “Today or tomorrow”, “Does she see it or not?”.

Now you know when a comma is placed before the “or”, and when not. The presented rules will help you to correctly compose a letter or some text.

Other unions

It should be specially noted that problems with punctuation arise not only when using the union “or”, but also when using the words “what” and “how”. We consider these cases in more detail.

When shouldn't you put a comma before “what”?

1. A comma is not preceded by a “what” or after it, if used in the expression “only and ... what”, followed by a pronoun or noun. Let us cite an example: “Only entertainment, that a concert once a month”, “Only money, a quarter in your pocket”, “Only and all that shirt on the body”, “Only talk about one thing about him”, “Only the light in this window. "
2. This word should not be preceded by a comma in those cases when it is part of the indecomposable sentences “by all means”, “the devil knows what”, etc. By the way, in the expression “besides that” the comma is also not needed.
   
3. Such a word should not be preceded by a comma if it does not represent a subordinate union, which is in a complex sentence, but is, for example, a comparative particle. ("Overhead, the sky is an endless ocean").
4. If this word is part of a compound union, then it also does not require a comma. For example: "Due to the heavy rains, the pine forest is full of mushrooms."
5. A comma is not put if the given word acts as an interrogative pronoun. For example: “What should I cook for dinner?”, “And what should I do if he did not come on a date?”

When is a comma put?

1. If in the first part of the sentence there is a complex particle “only”, the verb “know”, “do”, “do” and the union “what”, and in the second part any verb is necessarily present, then a comma should be placed before the “what”. Let us give an example: “From five in the morning until the evening you only know that you are sitting here”, “With their grandmother they only did that they made cakes”.
2. A comma should be placed before the “what” if the second part of the expression is the subordinate part of a complex sentence. Let us give an example: “It’s only new that the brothers are conferring how to fill up the bear with them”, “Early in the morning it was felt that the sun would come out very soon.”
3. A comma is set if "what" acts as a particle. Let us give an example: “And what, do you have such a week?”, “And what, do you always dress like this?”
   

When should I put a comma before the “how”?

The “how” is preceded by a comma in 3 cases:

1. If this union is included in expressions that are close in their role to introductory words: as a rule, as a result, as an exception, as now, as always, as now, as if on purpose, such as. Here is an example: “In the evening, as if on purpose, a blizzard started”, “This, as a rule, doesn’t happen very often,” “He, as always, was late for a meeting.”
2. If all parts of a complex sentence are joined by this union. To give an example: “We watched the water flow for a long time”, “They watched for a long time how the coals smoldered in the fire.”
3. If the proposal contains a circumstance that is expressed by a comparative turnover starting with this union. We give an example: “The boy’s voice rang like a bell”, “The girl sang like a nightingale.”

It is important to remember!

If any proposal continues even after a turnover with this union, then it is imperative to isolate it. For example: "He watched for a long time how the water flows, unable to tear himself away from such a spectacle."

When shouldn't you put a comma?

Sentences with such a union are not separated by commas in 5 cases:

1. If this union in circulation is used as a circumstance of a course of action. Let us give an example: "The path wriggled like a snake." In such cases, the turnover can easily be replaced by a similar dialect (in the form of a snake) or by a noun standing in the instrumental case (a snake). It should be noted that not always the circumstances of the course of action with full confidence can be distinguished from the circumstances of comparison. In this regard, quite a few errors occur.
2. If the turnover with such a word is included in phraseology. For example: "During dinner, she sat on needles."
3. If the union is between the predicate and the subject, and without it would be required to put a dash. We give an example: "The lake is like a mirror."
4. If such a word is part of the main member of the sentence (predicate), and the sentence itself does not have a complete meaning without this turnover. Let us give an example: "He holds on as a master."
5. If the comparative revolution has a previous negation of "not" or one of the particles: simply, completely, almost, completely, like, exactly, exactly. For example: "They do not do everything like the others", "His hair curls exactly like his father."
   

It is important to remember!

The presented word can be used as a compound union “both ... and”, “since”, and the revolutions “since then”, “since”, etc. In these cases, the comma should not be put. Let us cite examples: “All the windows in both the palace and ordinary houses are open,” “He did not take food with him and now regretted it very much, since he already wanted to eat.”