Great and powerful Russian language. In what other language can the same word express different meanings, depending on the setting of the comma? And in the Russian language, such phenomena are very common. Take, for example, the word âmeansâ âa comma that makes it stand out lets us know that it is introductory.
âSoâ is an introductory word
Words that express the speakerâs attitude to what he is saying are highlighted with commas. They are called introductory because they are not directly related to what the sentence is about. Such words express confidence, insecurity of the author in the reliability of the information presented, its source, the order of thoughts of the author, his appeal to the interlocutor.
The word "means" helps the speaker to logically build his thoughts. It can still be replaced by the synonyms âtherefore,â âin this way,â âso.â Checking the commas in this case is very simple: if the word can be skipped, and the meaning of the sentence does not change, then the commas are put.
Examples of using the introductory word âmeansâ at the beginning of a sentence
Here are the sentences in which the comma is placed after âmeansâ, in them this word or its synonyms should be at the very beginning:
- So you wonât go to school today?
- Therefore, the lessons were canceled today?
- So you havenât been asked your homework?
- Thus, I am absolutely free today.
- So, take your jacket and go home.
- Therefore, you still have time for the stadium.
- So soon you will be free.
- So, we will wait.
- Therefore, you need to redo it.
- So get it together, think it over.
As can be seen from these examples, the meaning of the proposals is not entirely clear. This is because the introductory word âmeansâ expresses the relationship of the investigation. That is, a context is needed in front of him. Let's consider such examples.
Introductory word "mean" in the middle of a sentence
In these cases, note that the comma before âmeansâ and its synonyms is also placed, that is, this word is highlighted on two sides:
- Today the classes have been canceled, therefore, you will not go to school today?
- The school has been quarantined from today, so the lessons are canceled.
- There were no classes today, therefore, they did not ask you your homework.
- They didnât ask us homework, which means that today I am absolutely free.
- If you have already finished work, therefore, take your jacket and go home.
- You were released earlier, so you will have time to go to the stadium.
- Today is a shortened day, therefore, you will soon be free.
- Mom will not be back soon, so we'll wait.
- You have a lot of mistakes in your work, therefore, you need to redo it.
- You completed the task with errors, then get together, think.
Comma checking
Recall that the setting of commas in the opening words is checked by skipping them:
- Today the classes have been canceled. You wonât go to school today?
- The exam is held at the school, lessons have been canceled today?
- There were no classes today, they didnât ask you homework.
- They didnât ask us homework; today I am absolutely free.
- If you have already finished work, take your jacket and go home.
- You were released earlier, you will have time to go to the stadium.
- Today is a shortened day, you will soon be free.
- Mom will not be back soon, we will wait.
- You have a lot of mistakes in your work, you need to redo it.
- You completed the task with errors, get together, think.
As you can see, this introductory word is quite possible to remove from the sentence without sacrificing meaning. The punctuation mark is still present, in these cases he shares simple sentences as part of complex ones. The word "means" the comma has nothing to do.
Not introductory
The word "means" is highlighted with commas or not. Consider the conditions under which no punctuation marks are required. Firstly, it must be predicable, and then it will not be possible to remove it without prejudice to the meaning of the statement, and secondly, it can be posed a question from the subject, a question is posed to it from dependent words.
For instance:
- Family (what is doing?) Means (for whom?) Everything to me.
- It doesn't mean anything (which doesn't?).
- Something yes (what does?) Mean.
- His word means a lot (what does?).
In all these sentences, the word âmeansâ does not put a comma.
Work with text
Suppose we need to write out the numbers of sentences in which the introductory word "means" is highlighted with a comma:
1) Grandma loves music very much, but her pianist career somehow did not work out. 2) And she is struggling to make Alyosha a musician. 3) And the dream of seeing a grandson as a famous artist means a lot to her. 4) She finds that Alex even looks like a young Paganini.
5) None of the family is personally acquainted with this famous violinist, but dad dares to say that he had black eyes and a thin pale face framed by tar hair. 6) Alyosha is chubby, blush, blue-eyed and blond. 7) Therefore, there is no complete coincidence of external signs. 8) But the grandmother stubbornly insists that the similarities lie deep in the eyes, and they have the same inspiration for her grandson as the famous Italian. 9) Only she sees it. 10) All the rest, however, find that in the eyes of the boy there is complete calmness, which sometimes only mixes slightly with guile.
11) The grandsonâs musical career is not all set, and in order to somehow get things off the ground, the grandmother decides on a trick. 12) Once she answers the questions of the riddle concert, and sends a letter to the editor on behalf of her grandson. 13) And after a few days, the announcer, in an surprised voice, reports on the radio that the second-grade student answered correctly eleven out of thirteen questions, which means that he takes second place in the music quiz. 14) In addition, she observes that the childâs answers are not childishly detailed and smart, which indicates that the music in his school is taught at the highest level.
15) But in fact, music was not taught at Alyoshinâs school: they couldnât find an intelligent teacher. 16) But after the victory of Alyosha in the music contest, I had to immediately find it. 17) After all, others began to beg to exchange experiences. 18) âIf you have such successful students, then you have excellent music teachers,â the heads of educational institutions of the city said to the director of the Alyoshina school, âdo not be greedy, share.â
19) Alyoshaâs grandmother was jubilant: it means that her idea still brought benefits, if not her grandson, but at least someone will become a great musician with her direct participation.
The correct answer will be this: with the introductory word âmeansâ, a comma is put in sentences 7, 18, 19.