As many people know, the participial phrase has the meaning of an additional predicate, therefore it is isolated and separated by commas. This usually does not cause difficulties for students. However, there are cases when the participial phrase does not need to be isolated. We will now consider these cases in more detail.
1. Participial phrase(most often this is a turn with the meaning of an adverbial manner of action) does not denote an additional action, but on the contrary, being closely connected with the predicate, it itself becomes the semantic center of the statement. In this case, it cannot be removed or moved without distorting or losing the meaning of the sentence.
He stood with his neck slightly craned, sad and thoughtful(the main thing is that he didn’t just stand, but stood with his neck slightly stretched).
She usually read with her head bowed and the tip of her tongue sticking out.(the point is how she read, not what she read at all).
This exercise must be done while sitting on the floor.(the point is exactly how this exercise is performed).
2. The participial phrase is a phraseological unit.
The boy hurried headlong to call the rescuers for help.
The printer worked tirelessly.
After receiving the news, the girl spent the night without closing her eyes.
Here are some of these phraseological units: carelessly, barely taking a breath, scream without taking a breath, rush with your tongue hanging out, lie staring at the ceiling, sit with bated breath, work with your sleeves rolled up, rush around without remembering yourself, listen with your ears hanging open, etc.
Some adverbial phraseological combinations act as introductory ones, then they are isolated.
To be honest, the exercise could have been done much better.
Apparently, you can already hit the road.
3. When before participial phrase there is an intensifying particle I.
It was possible to report this without starting to quarrel.
A humble person remains humble even after defeating a strong enemy.
You can go home without waiting for the exam result.
4. If the participial phrase is broken by the word included in a subordinate clause or in a simple sentence. This usually applies to subordinate clauses with a conjunctive word which. Also, similar cases can be found in some poetic texts.
There was a door to the left, through which it was possible to get into the dressing room.
Came out yesterday new movie Jim Jarmusch, after watching which it is not difficult to understand his creative growth.
Raven, perched on the spruce tree, was just about ready to have breakfast, but became thoughtful... (I. A. Krylov).
But Shibanov, keeping his slavish loyalty, gives his horse to the governor (A.K. Tolstoy).
5. A gerund may lose its verbal meaning, then it is not separated by commas. Usually in such cases it can be omitted without affecting the meaning of the sentence.
The post office is located not far from Vosstaniya Square.
Universities have been accepting applicants under new rules since the end of last year
You can start the task starting from tomorrow (the word starting can be omitted, the structure and meaning of the sentence will not change).
However, if the turn with the word starting is not associated with the concept of time or serves to clarify, clarify, then it is isolated.
Everything seemed suspicious to us, starting with his intonation
Captain since Crimean War, participated in all military operations except Japanese(the word starting cannot be omitted, the structure and meaning of the sentence will change).
Revolutions based on And depending on in most cases they are not included in the participial construction and are not isolated.
The task is compiled based on your wishes.
We will act according to the circumstances.
6. The participial phrase appears together with the usual non-isolated circumstance and they are homogeneous. In this case, the participial phrase is not separated by commas.
We will teach you how to solve examples and problems with ease and without resorting to reference books.
The boy ran quickly and without looking back.
The second lieutenant answered in
without embarrassment.
However, in in this case isolation is possible if the author wants to put a semantic emphasis or give a passing explanation.
A little guilty and sobbing, mother psaid goodbye to Alyosha.
In the dark sky, tired and not sparkling, yellow droplets of stars appeared (M. Gorky).
As you can see, not everything is simple with punctuation marks in adverbial verbs, but we hope our explanations helped you. If something remains not entirely clear, you will always find help from our tutors!
Good luck to you and a beautiful, competent, understandable Russian language!
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1. Participial phrases, as a rule, are isolated, regardless of their location in relation to the predicate verb.
For example: Reaching for the beams, shaking their heads, schools of horses(Ser.); Without putting on a cap, went out onto the porch(Shol.); Having gotten drunk overnight, the forest sank and fell silent, drooping wet pine branches(Sparrow); Leaning back on a comfortable, soft chair back in a trolleybus, Margarita Nikolaevna was driving along Arbat(Bulg.); Lisa, looking at Nikolai Vsevolodovich, quickly raised her hand(Adv.); After[Anna] pushed off with sticks and ran through the thickets, leaving behind swirls of snow (Paust.).
Circumstances expressed by gerunds and deeds participial phrases, have the additional meaning of predicativeness, characteristic of the gerund as a verb form. Therefore, gerunds and participial phrases are often perceived as additional predicates.
For example: My friend and I returned to our compartment. old lady, putting the book down and trying to ask something, didn’t ask and started looking out the window(Spread) (compare: The old woman put the book down and tried to ask something, but she never did..).
However, gerunds and participial phrases are not always able to be replaced by conjugated forms of the verb. They denote different signs of action and can be replaced by separate participial phrases with additional adverbial meaning.
For example: Doctor, not being able to talk to crying women , sighed and walked quietly around the living room. “Doctor,” couldn't talk to crying women, sighed and quietly walked around the living room(Ch.).
It is the presence of an adverbial connotation of meaning that functionally brings together adverbial and participial phrases.
Many adverbial participles and adverbial phrases that have adverbial meaning can be compared with the subordinate parts of complex sentences.
For example: Judging by his hesitant movements, by the expression of his gloomy face, which was dark from the evening twilight, he wanted to say something(Ch.) (compare: Judging by his hesitant movements...)
2. The participial phrase located after the coordinating conjunction, subordinating conjunction or allied word is separated from it by a comma, despite the absence of emphatic intonation(intonationally, the conjunction is included in the turnover).
For example: And Korney turned slightly on the beam and, watching with a thoughtful gaze the flashing horseshoes of the harness, starts talking(Boon.); The prince told me that he, too, would work and that, having earned money, we would go by sea to Batum(M.G.); In the pocket of his riding breeches, Sergei felt shag crumbs and, gently shaking its contents into your hand, rolled up a thick clumsy cigarette(Sparrow).
Depending on the context, the conjunction a can either be included in the participial construction or connect members of the main sentence.
For example: We must understand the essence of perestroika-consciousness, and having understood this, join in the active struggle for it. – We must understand the essence of the restructuring of consciousness, and, having understood this, we must not be content with just verbal calls for it.
3. When combining adverbial constructions, punctuation marks are placed in the same way as with homogeneous members of the sentence.
For example: He went staggering and still supporting his head with the palm of his left hand, and quietly tugging at his brown mustache with his right (M.G.).
If adjacent participial phrases refer to different predicate verbs and conjunctions and are not included in their composition, then they stand out as independent constructions.
For example: He stood leaning against a pile of tea cups, And, looking around aimlessly, drummed his fingers on his cane like a flute(M.G.) ( he stood and drummed).
Participial phrases located in different parts proposals are prepared independently.
For example: Sergey, after standing for another minute, slowly walked towards the pile of coal and, carefully laying out the overcoat on the floor, sat down on a large piece of anthracite(Sparrow) ( Sergei headed... and sat down); Pushing the door with your chest, Sergei jumped from the house and, not paying attention to the dry bushes tearing the body and the pine branches whipping in the face, ran, panting, forward into the very thicket of the forest(Sparrow) ( Sergei jumped and ran);Cars, tapping on the rail joints, lazily moved behind the locomotive and, clanking their buffers, became silent again(Sparrow) ( The carriages moved and became silent);Scattering, like a flying witch, smoky braids, crimson illuminated from below, the south-eastern express rushed in the distance, crossing the highway(Boon.) ( The South-Eastern Express was rushing along).
4. Restrictive particles only, only those standing before adverbial constructions, are included in their composition.
For example: So she lived without love, just hoping for her.
The same is true in the presence of comparative conjunctions that begin the adverbial construction. For example: Along the dark stairs... two walked, then three... hesitating and lingering everywhere, as if afraid to get down to business (Fed.).
5. Single gerunds are separated while maintaining their verbal meaning. The conditions for their isolation are the same as for participial phrases.
For example: The waves played, and Shakro, sitting on the stern, disappeared from my eyes, sinking along with the stern, then rose high above me and, screaming, almost fell on me(M.G.); It's charming to lie face up, watching the stars light up(M.G.); Whispering, as if dancing, grandfather appeared(M.G.); At first, even in the car, we moved at walking speed, every now and then we scraped the differential and, backing away, went around stones(Hall.); The doors creaked and closed. Darkness filled the carriage. Only the moon, curious, looked out the window(Sparrow); Having gotten used to it, my eyes made out a pile of bodies on the cement floor(Sparrow).
6. Single participles and participial phrases are not isolated:
1) if the gerund has lost its verbal meaning.
For example: Horses run slowly among green hilly fields(Boon.); Sergei lay motionless for a long time(Sparrow);
2) if d her participle is included in stable circulation: work tirelessly; run with your tongue out; run headlong; listen with bated breath; listen with open ears.
For example: IN difficult days he worked tirelessly with us(Nick.);
3) if adverbial participle or participial phrase is among homogeneous members sentences along with other parts of speech.
For example: He spoke in a whisper and without looking at anyone; Klim Samgin walked down the street cheerfully and without giving way to oncoming people (M.G.);
4) if the adverbial construction acts as an adverbial modality of action and is closely adjacent to the predicate verb(its function is similar to that of an adverb).
For example: This is an exercise do while sitting on a chair; This exercise is done standing. Compare, however, with increased verbosity: The engineer, lying down, read his mining art(Fad.) ( the engineer lay and read).
7. Single gerunds may or may not be isolated, taking into account the context.
For example, when acquiring the meaning of clarification, the gerund is isolated: The children were constantly making noise, never stopping(compare: the children made noise incessantly).
The isolation or non-isolation of a gerund may depend on the meaning of the predicate verb (a non-isolated gerund can be replaced by an adverb).
For example: Shel without stopping (walked non-stop); I asked without stopping (the gerund denotes the second action - asked, but did not stop to do so).
The isolation or non-isolation of a gerund is also influenced by its location; compare: He walked along the garden path without looking back. - Without looking back, he walked along the garden path.
8. Isolation or non-isolation of a gerund may depend on its type. Thus, participles ending in -а, -я, more often express the meaning of the circumstance of the manner of action and therefore are not isolated.
For example: She came in smiling(compare: Smiling, she entered the room; She came in smiling at your secret thoughts ).
Participles ending in -в, -вшы, convey other shades of adverbial meanings (reason, time, concession), which contribute to isolation.
For example: She screamed, frightened; Frightened, she screamed.
9. Turns of phrases despite, in spite of, despite, based on, starting from, thanks to, after, performing the function of derived prepositions and prepositional combinations, are isolated or not isolated according to the conditions of the context.
Turns of phrases with the words despite, despite are isolated.
For example: Despite the bad weather, we set off; At the meeting they criticized regardless of faces; Sleepy, like a branch drowned in a pond of sleep, Ney carried in her arms a magnificently sleeping son, scattered despite small amount my, heroic legs and arms(Color); Despite the doctors' ban, I wrote the story “Colchis” in Maleevka(Paust.); Science must be done with clean hands.
The phrase with the words despite is not isolated only in the case of a close semantic connection with the verb, and in postposition.
For example: He is did it despite doctors' ban (compare: Despite the doctors' ban, he did it).
Phrases with words starting from, depending on, after, acting in the meaning of prepositions, are not isolated.
For example: Let's act depending on the circumstances (compare: act according to circumstances);Starting Tuesday the weather changed dramatically(compare: The weather has changed dramatically since Tuesday); After some time Vesovshchikov came(M.G.).
If these phrases have the meaning of clarification or accession, then they are separated.
For example: We will act skillfully and quickly, depending on the circumstances; Last week starting from Tuesday, the weather changed dramatically.
A turn of phrase with words based on can have two meanings: with increased verbality, when the action denoted by it correlates with the subject, it is isolated; in the absence of such a connection, it is not isolated.
For example: It turns out that not only we, who suddenly discovered the need for a new science - bionics, strive to learn, understand and use the properties of living nature in the most advantageous way; our ancestors did this long before us, based on your knowledge and needs (Chiv.). Compare: He developed a house project. – The project has been developed based on planned cost.
The phrase with the word thanks is isolated or not isolated depending on the degree of prevalence and location.
For example: Thanks to the rains the ground was saturated with moisture. - Earth, thanks to the rains, soaked in moisture.
Circumstances expressed by nouns and adverbs
1. Circumstances expressed by nouns in the forms of indirect cases can be isolated for incidental explanation or semantic emphasis.
For example: And Natasha, with painful surprise, looked at the dressed-up people(Boon.); I walked and walked on the cold and damp sand, trilling with my teeth in honor of hunger and cold, and suddenly, in a vain search for food, going behind one of the stalls, I saw behind him a figure crumpled on the ground in a pathetic dress(M.G.); One of the spots, in the center of the pattern, looked very much like the head of the owner of the chair(M.G.); The small city, immersed in greenery, when looking at it from above, made a strange impression...(M.G.); The rafts sailed on among darkness and silence (M.G.); When evening came, I out of anger at your failures and at the whole world, decided on a somewhat risky thing...(M.G.); At night against the stronger wind, the detachment was heading to the port to land(Plat.); In eleven years, during daily driving must have been through a lot interesting adventures (Ch.).
Such circumstances usually carry additional semantic load and are synonymous with verbal constructions (compare examples: ...because he was angry at his failures and at the whole world; ...as I drove every day).
2. Most often, explanatory and adverbial members of a sentence contain derivative prepositions and prepositional combinations (in spite of, in view of, in order to avoid, as a result of, on occasion, for the reason of, in the presence of, in accordance with, in contrast to, in contrast to, due to, due to absence, regardless of, etc.), manifesting their specific circumstantial meaning and giving them the form of turns.
For example: A rotten, blue-gray balcony from which, due to the lack of steps, it was necessary to jump, drowned in nettles, elderberries, euonymus (Bun.); Lonely and unnecessary because of this peace, the peaceful sound of chewing horses, due to the desert, imprinted in the darkness and there is silence again(Ser.); Metelitsa silently, mockingly stared at him, holding his gaze, slightly moving his satin black eyebrows and with his whole appearance showing that, no matter, what questions they will ask him and how they will force him to answer them, he will not say anything that could satisfy those asking(Fad.); But, contrary to possibility, the sun came out bright red, and everything in the world turned pink, turned red(Sol.).
Given the low prevalence of such sentence members, variations in their punctuation are possible, dictated by different word orders.
Phrases with derived prepositions and prepositional combinations are necessarily separated,if they are located between the subject and the predicate : breaking their direct connection and contributes to the release of revolutions. The same thing happens when the natural connection between the controlling and controlled words is broken. In other positions, especially in less common sentences, such phrases do not complicate the sentence with special emphatic intonations and may not be isolated (without a special assignment).
For example: To avoid gas leakage The faucet is turned off. – Disabled, to avoid gas leakage, tap; He did it out of habit. - He, by force of habit, did it; According to the order the group has been disbanded. - Group, according to the order, disbanded; In the absence of corpus delicti the case was dismissed. - Case, for lack of corpus delicti, discontinued.
3. Circumstances expressed by nouns may be highlighted with a dash if there is a need for special emphasis on such circumstances.
For example: Under our last meeting Oleg asked to bring a general notebook with hard “crusts” - for taking notes while lying down (gas.); It[creative imagination] created science and literature. AND - at great depths– the creative imagination of at least Herschel, who discovered the majestic laws of the starry sky, and the creative imagination of Goethe, who created “Faust”, largely coincide with each other(Paust.); Poor poets - in lightning, in storms and thunder– sang inspired songs about the charm of friendship, noble impulses, freedom and courage(Paust.); Immediately after the birth of the boy, Dyakonov ordered Schwalbe to adopt him and give him the surname Koporsky at baptism - at the place of birth of the boy in the city of Koporye, near Oranienbaum (Paust.).
4. In special cases, for semantic emphasis, some circumstances expressed by adverbs may be isolated (with or without dependent words) . The conditions for their isolation are the same as those for circumstances expressed by nouns in indirect cases.
For example: He stood in front of me, listened and suddenly, silently, baring his teeth and squinting his eyes, rushed at me like a cat(M.G.); Misha put the book aside and, not immediately, quietly answered(M.G.); And so, unexpected for everyone, I passed the exam brilliantly(Cupr.).
Usually, when isolating circumstances expressed by adverbs, commas are used, however, as in other cases, in order to more strongly highlight the circumstances, dashes are possible.
For example: The boy sniffed in embarrassment and disbelief, but, realizing that there was nothing terrible, and everything, on the contrary, was turning out terribly fun, he wrinkled his nose so that his nose turned up, and also - quite childish- burst out mischievously and thinly(Fad.).
The participle and the words related to it (depending on it) represent an adverbial turnover. As in the case with, the placement of commas in adverbial phrases has its own subtleties.
Our starting point will be the general rule: “Adverbial phrases on both sides are separated by commas.” But what should you consider besides this?
* If in a sentence two homogeneous (that is, related to the same verb) participial phrases are connected by the conjunction “and” (as well as other coordinating or disjunctive phrases - “or”, “either”, etc.), then by analogy with other homogeneous members of the sentence do not use commas around “and”, “or” and other similar conjunctions. The same applies to single gerunds and participial phrases. “He approached the house, dreaming of rest and thinking about the future dinner.” However, remember this rule applies only to those cases where the adverbial phrases / gerunds refer to the same verb. If we're talking about about different verbs, commas will be placed: “He approached the house, dreaming of rest, and, thinking about the future dinner, opened the door.”
* “Only” and “only” that come before the participial phrase are, as a rule, included in it, that is, a comma is placed before these words.
* An adverbial phrase is not isolated if it is included in subordinate clause and has the word “which” as a dependent word (the same is true for a single gerund). “Each of us has our own fears, without repelling which we will not be able to free ourselves.”
* If the participial phrase is adjacent to the conjunctions “a”, “and” and other similar ones, then in order to understand whether to put a comma before or after the conjunction, determine whether it is included in the phrase or not. So, if the conjunction belongs to the participial phrase, then, as a rule, when mentally removing the latter from the sentence, the remaining conjunction violates the structure of the phrase. This is especially true for the conjunction “a”. If, when the turnover is removed, the role of the conjunction in the sentence does not change, then it is not included in the turnover.
Compare:
“For a long time she couldn’t choose shoes to match the dress, but when she chose stiletto sandals, she was very happy.” -> The phrase “She couldn’t find the shoes to match the dress for a long time, but she was very happy” doesn’t look entirely logical.
“For a long time she couldn’t choose shoes to match the dress and, having taken stiletto sandals, she realized that they fit perfectly with the outfit.” -> The phrase “She couldn’t find shoes to match the dress for a long time and realized that they [the sandals] fit perfectly with the outfit” is quite consistent.
* Phraseologisms with gerunds (such as “without closing your eyes”, “rolling up your sleeves”) are not separated by commas.
* If there is an intensifying particle “and” between the verb and the phrase immediately following it, the phrase is not separated by commas. “I can solve my financial problems without taking out loans.”
* Commas are also not needed if the participle expresses not an additional action, but a shade of the main one, which we discussed in detail in the article about the isolation of single participles. Similar structures can represent a whole revolution.
Let us remember that “despite” and “despite” are prepositions, and they are written with “not” together (while the participial phrases “despite” / “despite” are written separately). Prepositions are also words such as “thanks to”, “after”, “starting”, etc. At the same time, of course, we should not forget that there are “similar” participles. Compare: “Thanks to his tips, I passed the exam” (preposition), “Thanks to his tips, I handed him a bottle of cognac” (gerund). Some of the phrases with similar prepositions are also isolated, but according to their own rules, and not according to the rules for the isolation of participial phrases.
Ever since school, many people have retained the idea that, unlike participles, gerunds are always separated by commas, regardless of the presence of dependent words and place in the sentence. In fact, this idea is not entirely correct - the separation of gerunds and participial phrases has its own characteristics. Within the framework of this article, we will consider the isolation (and non-isolation) of single gerunds. Read about it in the corresponding article.
General rule this is - single gerunds are isolated (set off with commas on both sides) if they express an additional action, and are not isolated if they express a shade of the main action. For example:
* “She opened the door, laughing” (two actions - “when she opened the door, she laughed”).
* “He walked along the road slowly and listened to the birds singing” (“slowly” is a connotation of the main action).
First of all, such shades become gerunds, which, in principle, have practically lost their verbal meaning and are perceived more like adverbs - “silently”, “slowly”. The situation is more complicated with those participles that are isolated or not isolated depending on the context. For example, “She opened the door laughing.” This participle can be seen as a connotation of an action (how exactly did she open the door?) or as an independent action (when she opened the door, she laughed). Accordingly, a comma will or will not be placed depending on the meaning that the author puts into the sentence.
The following can serve as a kind of hint when deciding to place a comma: as a rule, shades of action are expressed by gerunds coming immediately after the verb. However, they can be replaced with an adverb or a noun with a preposition. For example, “without stopping” - “without stopping”, “without haste” - “without haste”, “smiling” - “with a smile”. Some sources also indicate that participles ending in “-a” and “-o” are more often shades, while those with “-v” and “-vsh” are additional actions.
Participles separated from the verb are often isolated.
Compare:
* “She greeted smiling.”
* “She greeted with a smile.”
* "Smiling, the girl in beautiful dress handed him the ball.”
Now let's pay attention to some subtleties regarding the placement of commas with isolated gerunds. In particular, if two homogeneous (that is, relating to the same verb) single gerunds are connected by the conjunction “and” (as well as “either”, “or”, etc.), then commas are not placed around this conjunction - by analogy with homogeneous members of the sentence. For example, “By running and doing pull-ups, she quickly got into shape.” The same applies to the isolation of the participle phrase and the solitary participle. Separated in relation to the entire phrase, these members of the sentence are homogeneous among themselves (for this participle they must necessarily refer to the same verb).
Also, commas are not placed if the conjunction “and” connects an adverb and a gerund referring to the same verb - such members of the sentence are also considered homogeneous (plus, such gerunds often express shades of action). For example, “He answered quickly and without thinking.” In this case (by analogy with homogeneous members of a sentence), if there is no connecting conjunction or there is a conjunction “a” or “but,” then a comma should be placed between the adverb and the gerund: “He answered quickly, without thinking.”
If a gerund begins a subordinate clause and has the word “which” as a dependent word, then this gerund is not isolated. The same is true if the gerund has other dependent words. “I dream of such a dress, when I find it I will feel like a queen.”
The opinions of linguists about what a gerund is are divided. Some believe that it refers to a special form of the verb, others suggest that it is an independent part of speech. We will support the second option.
The participle is an independent part of speech. It contains the signs of an adverb and a verb, shows when, why and how an action is performed by a predicate verb, and has an additional effect. If the participle in a sentence is not alone, but has words dependent on it, then this set of words is called a participial phrase. The article will tell you how and when to separate gerunds in a sentence.
What is separation?
In Russian, the concept of isolation is a way of clarifying and highlighting a certain set of words in a sentence. Only members of a sentence that are secondary can be isolated; this is how they differ from non-isolated members. Isolations are necessary so that the reader can more accurately understand the described picture of the action taking place. Not only lonely gerunds, but also participle phrases can be isolated.
Examples of single gerunds
If an isolated adverbial clause does not have dependent words in the sentence, then it is called a single gerund. When writing a sentence, this part of speech is always highlighted with commas on both sides.
The location of the gerund in a sentence can be anywhere. Here are examples of correctly separating single gerunds with commas:
- Staring, she could not utter a word.
- When I returned, I found my sister at home.
- Without training, you cannot achieve success in sports.
Accordingly, the following gerunds were highlighted with a comma:
- staring;
- having returned;
- without training.
In the letter you can find several repeated participles. They are called homogeneous. At the same time, they are separated by commas and separated by this punctuation mark as separate parts of speech. Examples of such sentences:
- Laughing, humming and spinning, Natasha hurried to her first date.
- Chuckling and winking, Pasha closed the door.
- She was silent, angry, but cowardly.
Homogeneous participles in a sentence can refer to different predicates. For example: Playing and laughing, she, inspired, rushed towards her dreams.
Separating single gerunds with commas
Isolation of single gerundial participles occurs in the following cases:
- If the gerund plays the role of the second predicate in a sentence. Preserves the meaning of the verb. Indicates the condition, cause or time of an action, but not its image. Having run away, Marina lost her purse. After the holiday, the guests left without calming down.
- If in your mind you can check the sentence by replacing the gerund with a verb, or make a complex one from a simple sentence. When Marina ran away, she rubbed her purse. The guests, although they did not calm down after the holiday, left.
Isolation of single gerunds does not occur if:
- A single gerund has lost its verbal meaning or has a close connection with the predicate. Masha ran into the room without knocking. Zhenya climbed down from the tree silently and slowly.
- If gerunds are circumstances of the manner of action and they cannot be replaced by verbs. Zhenya got down silently and took his time.
- If a single gerund can be replaced with a noun. Masha ran into the room without knocking.
Identification of single gerunds depending on their location in a sentence
The separation of gerunds may not occur if they are at the beginning or end of the sentence, but in the middle they are separated by commas. Let's compare two sentences:
- Tanya tried on the slippers slowly.
- On the way, slowly, Tanya admired the flowers.
In the first sentence, the participle is not separated by commas, since it is represented by a circumstance of the manner of action. It can be replaced with the word “leisurely”.
In the second sentence, the gerund represents the adverbial reason (“since I was in no hurry”).
How is an adverbial phrase formed?
If a sentence contains a part of speech that answers the questions “by doing what?”, “by doing what?” and called a gerund, with dependent words, then this set of words is usually called a participial phrase.
In a sentence, this phrase always performs the function of an adverbial circumstance and relates to the verb, as it denotes an additional action. Additional actions are performed by the same person, phenomenon or thing that performs the main actions.
Examples of participial phrases
The separation of gerunds and participial phrases occurs regardless of where they stand in relation to the predicate verb. For example:
- All day long, dark clouds walked across the sky, first revealing the sun, then covering it again.
- Walking next to his mother, the baby looked at her in surprise and fascination.
- Joy, while bringing happiness to some people, gave others inescapable grief.
- I looked at the sunrise without taking my eyes off.
- The baby, following his mother's hand, made the same movements.
What do you need to remember when using gerunds and participial phrases in a sentence?
The basic rules for using participial phrases when writing text are as follows:
- Expressed by a predicate verb, the main action and the additional action expressed by the participial phrase must relate to one person, object or phenomenon.
- Most often, the isolation of circumstances expressed by gerunds and participial phrases is used when writing a one-part, definitely personal sentence, as well as with a verb in the imperative mood.
- If the sentence is impersonal in the infinitive, then it is also possible to use the participial phrase.
- The isolation of gerunds and the isolation of circumstances are one and the same, since the gerund expresses a sign of circumstance in a sentence.
In what cases are gerunds and participial phrases not separated by commas?
Isolation of circumstances expressed by gerunds and participial phrases is not carried out if:
- Circumstances are connected by the conjunction “and” with a non-isolated circumstance or predicate. She hated him and accepted his signs of attention. Dasha played noisily and screamed with joy.
- Circumstances come closer to adverbs. They lose their additional meaning and acquire the value of a sign of action. This:
- gerunds that have become phraseological units (without closing your eyes, rolling up your sleeves, headlong, opening your mouth, and others). For example: Petya worked carelessly. But, rolling up her sleeves, she washed her hands in the bath. It should be remembered that phraseological introductory phrases(apparently, in other words, in fact, others) are separated by a comma.
- participles that carry the main semantic load. Without them, the predicate does not fully express the thought. This part of speech usually comes after the predicate. The “adverbiality” of these gerunds is obvious in sentences where there is a group of homogeneous members - gerunds and adverbs. For example: He answered me without embarrassment and frankly. Without being embarrassed- this is a gerund, and frankly- adverb.
Commas do not distinguish gerunds containing the dependent word “which” in all their variations. He wanted to get rid of the letter, reading which he recalled his recent grief.
What should we distinguish from gerunds?
Isolating gerunds, many do not think that these could be adverbs or prepositions.
The following adverbs are distinguished:
- happily;
- sneaking;
- joking;
- silently;
- sitting;
- standing;
- lying down and others.
The gerunds that are the same as these words retain an additional effect. This occurs during formation and connection with other gerunds. Anya rode standing all the way. He will do this job jokingly (easy). These sentences use adverbs.
Standing at the top, Anya looked down. All the way, having fun and playing, Yana did not close her mouth. In these sentences, commas separate the participial phrase in the first sentence and homogeneous participles in the second sentence.
Prepositions include: starting from, based on. Commas are not used, since the adverbial part can be removed from the sentence and its meaning will not change. It's snowing starting from the night (goes from the night).
Isolation of participles and gerunds: what is the difference?
Participial and adverbial phrases perform different functions in a sentence and have the following morphological differences:
- A participial phrase or single participle refers to the word (noun or pronoun) being defined. The gerund or participial phrase is closely related to the predicate verb. In this case, the participle changes according to numbers, gender, cases, has a full and short form, and the gerund is an unchangeable word form.
- The participial phrase and the participle serve as a definition in a sentence, and the gerund and participial phrases act as various circumstances.
- Participles and gerunds are distinguished by suffixes. Participles have such suffixes as -ush-(-yush-), -ash-(-yash)- -vsh-, -sh- y real participles and - om-(-em-), -im-- -enn-, -nn-, -t- for the passive. While gerunds have the following suffixes: -a-, -ya-, -ucha-, -yuchi-, -v-, -lice-, -shi-.
- If a sentence contains a conjunction next to an adverbial phrase, they are separated by a comma. Unions are not included in circulation. For example: He smiled at his friend and, jumping over the puddle, ran home. The exception is the conjunction “a”, which comes before the participial phrase. In this case, it is included in circulation. For example: A person needs to understand what the meaning of life is, and having understood this, he will tell others.
- If a sentence consists of several participial phrases or single participles, then commas are placed between them as when listing homogeneous members of the sentence. For example: She approached, staggering and holding her friend by the shoulder with one hand and holding the other on her belt.
- If one sentence contains several participial phrases relating to different predicates, then each of them is separated by commas. For example: Pushing the gate with his foot, he ran out onto the road and, not paying attention to the people, rushed away.
- The participial phrase is always separated by commas on both sides.
Isolating participles will not cause problems if you learn to correctly identify this part of speech in any sentence.
How to help your child consolidate the material he has learned?
After the child has studied the theoretical material, he should be encouraged to consolidate it with practical exercises.
Initially, children must work orally with sentences and learn to find participial phrases and single gerunds in them. After this, students should be asked to write sentences and place them. In addition, the child must explain his choice in placing commas.
After children have mastered simple sentences, you can give them sentences with conjunctions and allied words. At the same time, before finding an adverbial phrase or a single participle, the grammatical basis should be highlighted.
Make the task more difficult compound sentences, which have several grammar basics and homogeneous participial phrases.