Introductory words play a special role in the language. Their examples are quite numerous. They can be represented by various parts of speech. These constructions have one unshakable rule - they are not members of the sentence, but only complicating it, they introduce some explanations for the listener or reading the text. Let us analyze this syntactic phenomenon, commas during the introductory word, examples of setting other punctuation marks (dashes).
Definition of a concept
The purpose of the introductory words is to focus on the speech situation, to give an assessment, expressive or modal. Shades of values can be different (we’ll talk about them a bit later).
Introductory words, examples of which we will analyze, stand apart from the meaning of the whole sentence as a whole. That is, if they are excluded from the context, the content will not be affected. Thus, these constructions are not members of the sentence and are necessarily separated not only by punctuation marks, but also by intonation.
Introductory words are presented not only in one token : examples of phrases or sentences are not uncommon. Yesterday - I don’t know why - I was terribly unlucky . The introductory construction is expressed by the phrase I don’t know why . As the old inhabitants of the house say, earlier pure water was found in this well. The first part before the decimal point is an introductory sentence with the meaning of indicating the source of the statement.
Grammatically introductory words are represented very widely: these are nouns ( fortunately ), and short adjectives or they are in superlatives ( most importantly, at most guilty ), and adverbs (of course, of course), and verbs in various forms ( it seems say, to know ), and pronouns ( meanwhile ), phrases and various types of sentences ( we wrote about them above ).
Key Values: Confidence / Uncertainty
Let us examine the shades of meanings that convey introductory words. Examples will be given for each group. The following constructions are used to express confidence or uncertainty:
- Of course: We, of course, will go for a walk on such a beautiful frosty day.
- Of course: She will look after you, of course .
- No doubt: No doubt, we will pass all the exams successfully!
- Maybe: I may have to resort to Victor's help.
- Obviously: Winter will obviously end in the coming weeks.
- Apparently: You, apparently, do not intend to go to reconciliation.
- Perhaps: Perhaps better times will soon come.
Collocation and suggestions: Most likely, this child will be very similar to his father. You, I am sure of this, will be a good specialist in medicine.
Feelings and appreciation
In order to convey all kinds of shades of feelings, introductory words are often used.
Examples of suggestions are as follows:
- Fortunately , an elegant lawn was growing in the courtyard, so Leonid was not injured when he fell from the attic.
- To our delight , the order was delivered even earlier than the specified time.
- Unfortunately , concessions will not be so easy.
- To the surprise of those present , Anna danced a waltz no worse than the other girls trained in this since childhood.
- It is annoying to realize , but before us was not the same arrogant girl with thin pigtails.
The same introductory words can convey the author’s assessment of the subject of conversation, oral or written. To convey an assessment of the style of utterance itself, you can also use a separate introductory word. Examples:
- In other words , you must first carefully read the text, and only then make your personal judgments.
- Speaking figuratively , this mountain was like a fire-breathing dragon, which was about to burp its destructive flame.
- To put it mildly , we did not want to go to the performance at such a late hour.
- Leonid , and he directly stated this, did not want to have anything to do with this contractor.
Ordering and way of thinking
Introductory words also help to give thoughts some structure. Their group is quite diverse.
Here are just a few:
- Firstly (secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly - we pay attention that these introductory words are written with a hyphen) , I need confidence that you will not betray me, and secondly , I want to enlist parental support.
- I finally managed to get all the necessary documents.
- You will go to study at the best medical university, therefore, a good start to your career.
- So, we planned a good budget to start the company.
- For example, you and your brother could move to your parents.
- Based on the following facts, we offer to terminate the contract with this company.
- She ate soup, a side dish with a good piece of meat, drank compote , in a word, was completely satiated and picked up.
Source of utterance
The following introductory words indicate the source of the statement:
- According to the professor, the work is written with dignity.
- According to media reports, weather conditions will worsen by the weekend.
- This, they say , is a very useful tool for the prevention of all kinds of infections.
- The situation, according to competent sources , is taken under the strict control of higher authorities.
- In my opinion , someone completely lost his conscience.
- Ignorance of the law, in your opinion , justifies such serious violations?
To attract attention
Another function of the introductory words is to attract the attention of the interlocutor or reader.
For this, the following words and phrases can be used:
- I, you know , got out of the age of romantic daydreaming .
- Vladislav, you just imagine , climbed to the very top of a huge mountain, without the necessary equipment at hand.
- Imagine , she did not even think that life could change so abruptly.
Punctuation Rules
As a rule, commas are required in the letter when introducing the word. Examples in large quantities were given above. However, there are times when a dash or parentheses are required. Consider them.
- Introductory words convey the meaning of any additional information. The day before yesterday - I don’t know why myself - I was very sad . In this case, the design conveys additional information, so it would be more correct to select it not with commas, but with a dash.
- Introductory constructions explain the information provided. In this case, you can put both a dash and brackets. The Tasmanian devil (if you met him) is able to sink into the very heart with his appearance.
You should also remember a few special refinements on the allocation of introductory structures by commas. So, a comma is not put with an introductory word included in a separate circulation. Finally, a doctor came to us, most likely a surgeon. In this proposal, a stand-alone application contains an introductory phrase most likely .
Punctuation should be used with particular attention at the junction of the union and the introductory word. Here you need to observe the context. If the introductory word excluded from it does not violate semantic integrity, then it must certainly be distinguished by commas on both sides. Also, the design can be a single whole with the union. In this case, separating them with punctuation marks is not worth it.
Let's analyze two sentences. We will not go on vacation this summer, but most likely we will go on a trip next. - This village seems very emotional, but according to rumors, not everything in it is so beautiful. In the first sentence, the introductory phrase can most likely be easily separated from the union. The meaning of the proposal will not be violated. The second example is another matter - here the rumored phrase organically merges into the context of the whole sentence. If we remove it, we will lose our semantic connotation.
Special cases
There are special cases where introductory constructions are not so easy to distinguish from homonymous members of a sentence. One such is an introductory word however . Examples will help to catch these differences.
We will analyze the proposals. Alex, however, was an excellent builder. - We were already close to the house, but snowfall fell, so we arrived soon. In the first sentence, however, is an introductory word, it expresses a clarifying meaning. In the second, this is a compositional union, easily replaced by another, for example, but. Thus, if however it stands in the middle or end of a sentence, this is an introductory word. In all other cases, this is a compositional union.
Also the complexity is causing it seems . The introductory word, examples of the use of which will be discussed below, should be distinguished from the predicate in the impersonal sentence. For instance:
It seems to me that a wonderful winter will come soon. Here, this word acts as a predicate. Compare with another offer. They did not seem to notice the audience at all. In this case, there is a sentence with an introductory word. We draw attention to the fact that the verb-predicate is easily determined - did not notice. Thus, it seems that this sentence member has nothing to do.