Using word in sentences

There are adverbs, for example really (in fact), only (only), which can freely change their place in the sentence, creating different semantic stresses or changing the meaning. For example:

Leo doesn't really like dancing. - Leo doesn't really like to dance.
Leo really doesn't like dancing. - Leo doesn't really like to dance.

More about the types and place of adverbs in a sentence, we tell here.

5. We put the definition before or after the noun

The definition is used before or after the noun on which it depends.

• Attributes expressed by adjectives, participles, possessive pronouns and ordinal numbers come before the noun.

Definition	Subject	Predicate	Definition	Supplement	Translation
		is dating	a very good-looking	girl.	Richard is dating a very beautiful girl.
My	aunt	will look		after the dog.	My aunt will look after the dog.
		didn't love	his second	wife.	John did not love his second wife.
	The scientist	was watching	flying	birds.	A scientist was watching birds in flight.

If you need to describe an object with several adjectives, you should do it in this order:

• The definition is used after the noun if it is expressed by a participial phrase or other construction of several words, as well as in the case of some adjectives.

Definition	Subject	Predicate	Supplement	Definition
Your	sister	ordered	a steak	made of soya.
Yours	sister	ordered	steak,	made from soy.
	The manager	was searching	for methods	of motivation.
	Manager	looking for	methods	motivation.
	They	asked	for the tickets	available.
	Oni	asked	about available	tickets.

Relative clauses

Relative order is preserved in subordinate clauses, even if it is violated in the main clause.

Thus, the basic word order scheme looks like this:

Subject + Predicate + Object + Circumstance

Watch a video where a native speaker explains the rules for constructing sentences using understandable examples (in Russian with English and Russian subtitles) :

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Indirect order

When the subject-predicate sequence is broken, they speak of indirect word order.

Questions

In colloquial speech, you can ask a question with a direct word order, changing only the intonation, as we do in Russian, but English grammar has its own rules for this. Each type of question has its own special word order, and in most cases the auxiliary verb (or part of it), verb to be or a modal verb is placed before the subject.

See examples of general, special and alternative questions:

Particle not in negative questions (“Is it?”) is used together with an auxiliary verb:

Don’t you know the rules? Don't you know the rules?

Note that the question word in special questions is placed at the beginning of the sentence and replaces an unknown object, definition or circumstance. At the same time, if a preposition is needed in a question for an addition, it is put at the end of the question:

What did they clean the windows with? - What did they clean the windows with?

In the question to the subject of the word what or who logically replace it:

Who has stolen the Christmas? - Who Stole Christmas?

The tag question is usually used when they want to get confirmation of what has been said. It consists of an affirmative or negative main clause and a short question at the end. In the interrogative part, the subject and predicate are also interchanged:

Dad didn’t forget to buy the presents, did he? - Dad didn't forget to buy gifts, right? (Or did Daddy buy gifts, right?)

Learn more about the different types of questions and their features in our other article.

Imperative statements

Orders or requests usually do not have a subject. Otherwise, the typical word order is preserved: the predicate, then the addition, the remaining members of the sentence are arranged depending on the situation. If the speaker wants to emphasize who he is addressing, he can do this before or after the verb:

Pronoun you before the imperative makes the phrase more emotional:

You get away from me! - Get off me!

In negative imperative sentences, the reference must come after the particle not . This helps to distinguish a request or command from a simple denial:

Exclamations

To express delight, joy, sadness, resentment and other emotions, constructions with the words how (how), what (what, what), may (let) are often used in English and the negative questions we talked about earlier

• exclamations with how

Usually this word is followed by a definition, subject, predicate, object and circumstance, but individual members of the sentence may be missing.

How	Definition	Subject	Predicate
How	beautiful!
Like	beautiful!
How	windy	it	is.
As	windy!
How		you	have grown!
Like	you		has grown!

• exclamations with what

what is usually followed by an adjective or noun (definition, subject or object) then normal word order is preserved.

What	Definition	Supplement	Subject	Predicate
What	a surprise!
What	surprise!
What	a lovely	evening!
What	wonderful	evening!
What	a dazzling	smile	your cousin	has!
What	dazzling	smile	from your cousin.

• Statements since may

Modal verb may in exclamations is sometimes placed at the beginning of a sentence before the subject to give the statement a certain style or emotion.

May they rot in hell! - May they rot in hell!

By the way, the famous phrase from Star Wars is also based on this technique:
May the Force be with you! - May the Force be with you!

• Negative questions

Some native speakers may use negative questions in the form of exclamations, for example:
Isn't it lovely! - Isn't that wonderful!

These and other ways to express your emotions in English are described in detail here.

There is/there are

To say that something is somewhere or vice versa, use the phrases there is for singular objects and there are for plural objects. The word there , which usually means "there", is not translated here. Verb forms to be (is, are) act as a predicate followed by a subject

There is a croissant for you on the table. - There is a croissant on the table for you.
There are two designers in our team. — There are two designers in our team.

Inversion

Sometimes the direct word order in statements and negations is deliberately violated in order to achieve some special stylistic effect. Remember Master Yoda from Star Wars:

Disturb me, you must not! Practicing I am. You shouldn't interfere with me. I practice.

In real life, as a rule, inversion is used in business or literary speech. Here are some more examples:

Ellen was very religious, as were many of her friends. - Ellen was very religious, as were many of her friends.
Under no circumstances can we publish these documents. - Under no circumstances should these documents be published.
Directly in front of them stood a great castle. - Directly in front of them was a magnificent castle.
"I'm here", whispered Jim. "I'm here," Jim whispered.

A vivid example from colloquial speech: to say “me too”, use set expressions with the words so (in affirmations) and neither (in negatives) :
- I don’t watch TV. I don't watch TV.
Neither do I. Neither do I.

In addition, in an informal conversation, inversion is often used with the words here and there meaning "here":
There goes your girlfriend! "Here comes your girlfriend!"

Detailed information about the cases when you can change places of words, you will find in this article.

Incomplete sentences

Along with inversion, some sentence members may simply be missing. Native speakers may skip certain words or phrases in a conversation if they are already clear from the context, or to separate a very long sentence. Here are some examples:

Seen Brian? (=Have you seen Brian?) Have you seen Brian?
David went to Florence, and Linda (went) to Berlin. - David went to Florence and Linda went to Berlin.
Though intelligent, he was very poorly educated. (=Though he was very intelligent…) - Although he was very intelligent, he was very poorly educated.

You can read about sentence fragments here.

Additionally, you can watch how a native speaker talks about the wrong word order in English (in Russian with Russian and English subtitles):

Conclusions

To summarize:

1. In English grammar, direct and indirect word order is distinguished.
2. Direct order is used in affirmations and negations. It implies that the subject comes first, then the predicate, then, if available, the object.
3. Indirect order is when the subject comes after the predicate. It is used in questions, imperative statements, exclamations, constructions there is/there are , inverse and incomplete sentences.
4. Different types of questions require a different word order, in most cases an auxiliary, modal verb or verb to be (to be) is placed before the subject, and after - semantic.
5. Imperative statements usually do not require a subject.
6. Inversion in declarative sentences is used to create a special stylistic effect in business speech, literature or cinema, usually with fixed expressions. But sometimes inversion can be found in colloquial speech.
7. In incomplete sentences, individual members of the sentence are omitted, usually when the interlocutor already understands what it is about.

Introductory words in Russian - table, types and examples

What are introductory words

Let's start, as always, with a definition - let's figure out what words are called introductory words and why they are needed. Schoolchildren face them starting from the 5th grade, although they study in detail only in the 8th grade. This is not a difficult topic if you have a good visual memory - there are very few rules regarding introductory words in Russian, and you just have to remember some things.

There are several types of introductory words, but they all have the following features:

• are distinguished in the text by commas, brackets or dashes;
• do not have grammatical connections with other members of the sentence;
• can be omitted from the text without loss of meaning.

Important!

Introductory words are not part of the sentence. They should be distinguished from exactly the same words that act as circumstances, definitions or additions. The difference is that the introductory construction cannot be questioned.

Consider this example:

• Sasha did come, true , half an hour late.
• Sasha confirmed that everything written is pure true .

So, we have the word "truth", which in the first sentence acts as an introductory one, since it cannot be questioned. In the second sentence, it is also a predicate. We can pose the question: “what is written is what?”.

• Me, right , now I won't get home soon.
• The whole class is correct solved this problem.

As you can see, in the second sentence you can put the question “how?” to “correctly”. Therefore, this word is not introductory.

The same rules apply to compound introductory words. They, too, can disguise themselves as different members of a sentence, and it is important to learn to recognize them.

Compare:

• He woke up every morning with joyful anticipation, in one word was happy. - With a single word you will not be able to convince anyone, actions are needed.
• Sea air and plenty of sun, no doubt help to quickly recover from illness. - Misha dreamed of the sky since childhood, and therefore , without any doubt, chose a flight school.

Another way to distinguish introductory words is to remove them altogether and see if the sentence loses its meaning. Let's try it on one of our examples:

• Sasha did come, however, he was half an hour late.
• Sasha confirmed that everything written is true.

It is clear that in the first case the meaning remained the same, but in the second it was lost. This confirms that in the first sentence we are dealing with an introductory word.

Demo lesson in Russian

Take the test at the introductory lesson and find out what topics separate you from the "five" in Russian.

Signs of introductory words: table for grade 5

Grammatically, introductory words can be any part of speech and even a short sentence:

• noun - without a doubt, true ;
• adjective - at least, is to blame;
• verb - I hope, I suppose ;
• adverb - undoubtedly, definitely ;
• gerund - frankly speaking ;
• phrase - if you want to know, according to experts ;
• is an impersonal sentence - seemed to me, as I see it .

Examples of the use of introductory words:

• Pacific Ocean, no doubt , the largest on the planet.
• Frankly speaking , I could not convince him that I was right, and I did not try.
• This role, as I see it , Masha will play the best.
• — Will you be expected by eight in the morning?
  - Of course !

​

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Digits of introductory words by value

As we have already said, introductory words can perform a variety of functions in oral and written speech. Some of them emphasize the position of the speaker - his confidence, surprise, regret, etc. Others point to the next action or event, the logic of the story or the source of information. The third ones are only needed to attract attention. Let's figure out what the introductory words of different types mean, and at the end we will summarize using a table with examples.

Different degrees of certainty, assumption and assumption

This is the most common category of introductory words that we refer to on a daily basis. The main function of this category is to emphasize confidence or uncertainty in any information, so it is very important.

Examples: certainly, certainly, of course, of course, suppose, probably, perhaps, maybe .

If such an introductory word is removed, the sentence will not lose its meaning, but its meaning will still become slightly different.

Compare:

• Maybe I'll call on you tonight.
• I will visit you tonight.

In the first case, uncertainty remains, in the second case, the proposal sounds positive.

If we talk about introductory words that express confidence, this difference is less noticeable. With them, the statement becomes more categorical, but does not acquire other shades of meaning.

• The task will be difficult, but you, of course , can do it!
• Certainly is the shortest road to the city center.
• This deal, no doubt , launched his successful career.

Do not confuse with members of the sentence:

I believed his words (how?) definitely and without the slightest doubt.

Next, we will consider how the introductory words are indicated, but for now we remind you: if you can put a question to the word, it is a member of the sentence and is not separated by commas.

Emotions, feelings and assessment of what is happening

Using this category of introductory words, the speaker expresses his attitude to events, gives an assessment. Such words can denote joy, delight, grief, horror, a sense of shame, apprehension, etc.

Examples: to everyone's joy, to horror, to my delight, unfortunately, unfortunately, the hour is uneven, that's it.

They are characteristic of direct speech, as they reflect the emotions and feelings of the speaker.

• Sorry, , I will not be able to personally meet you at the station.
• Time, surprisingly , flew by very quickly - I did not have time to get bored.

In fiction, these same introductory words can also be used to tell about the feelings of the hero or his attitude to events.

• Katya, to her shame , did not know the meaning of this word and did not understand what it was about.
• The artist went for an encore and, to the delight of the audience , performed all the hits.

Do not confuse with members of the sentence:

(What for?) The delight of the audience was mixed with a share of disappointment that the favorite hit was never heard.

Ordinariness, ordinariness of what is happening

Quite a small category of introductory words, in which the majority are colloquial expressions. They not only allow you to point out the ordinary nature of events, but also enliven the text, give it color.

Examples: happened, as usual, happened, as a rule, as usual, as usual, as always .

• Grandfather Semyon opened the gate and, according to the old custom , leaned towards the shaggy Beetle.
• After a walk in the park, we, as usual , went for a cup of tea in a cafe.

Do not confuse with members of the proposal:

Not accepting the church reform, the community continued to live (how?) old custom .

Introductory words indicating the source of the message

The main task of introductory words of this type is to indicate authorship, refer to the source of information or give the statement some kind of authority. They are typical for news reports, reviews, articles in the media and are part of the journalistic style, although they are used not only within its framework.

Examples: according to experts, according to scientists, according to the prime minister, according to a correspondent, in my opinion .

• About 97% of all water on our planet, according to scientists , is contained in the oceans.
• According to the Deputy Prime Minister , economic growth will continue next year.

In addition, such introductory words help convey direct speech without resorting to exact quotation.

• Ivan Ivanovich said: "Our plant overfulfilled the plan by 5% last quarter. "
• According to Ivan Ivanovich , the plant overfulfilled the plan in the last quarter by 5%.

Do not confuse with members of the sentence:

Do not draw far-reaching conclusions (for what?) according to experts , the situation may still change.

Connection of thoughts and sequence of presentation

This type of introductory words indicates the internal logic of the sentence, order or any other connection between events. It is especially often used in textbooks and scientific materials, since it makes it possible to streamline the text, build a causal chain.

Examples: therefore, firstly, secondly, respectively, therefore, on the one hand, first of all, in addition, finally .

• These triangles have a common hypotenuse, hence , they are equal.
• On the one hand, Dasha liked living in France, but on the other hand, she still missed home.

Do not confuse with members of the sentence:

The sheet of paper was painted only (where?) on one side and the other side remained clean.

Notes on the style of speech, way of expressing thought

Introductory words from this category are usually used to indicate the features of the presentation or to reformulate the thought. Like the previous view, sometimes they can precede a certain conclusion, but do not directly indicate the connection of events, but rather help express the same idea through other facts or in a different style.

Examples: in other words, to put it mildly, to put it more precisely, if I may say so, in short, in a word.

• The children started to get bored and look at their phones, in other words , the film was not very interesting.
• This, if I may say , is not jasper at all - the stone heats up too quickly in the hands.

Do not confuse with members of the sentence:

(What?) In other words, can be wounded no worse than with a dagger.

Introductory words that attract the attention of the interlocutor

Marker words with which you can draw the listener's attention to one or another part of the statement, emphasize the main idea. Very often they are at the beginning of a sentence, but they can also occur in the middle, but at the end they are extremely rare.

Examples: listen, imagine, emphasize, believe it, see, notice what is essential, what is even more important .

• Note , no one left the classroom, although the teacher was already half an hour late.
• At this meeting, we were able to sum up the results and, which is significant , outline a plan for the next year.

Do not confuse with members of the offer:

Marina always collected her briefcase in the evening, which (how?) significantly saved her time in the morning.

Of course, it is almost impossible to list all the introductory words that are, but we have compiled a short cheat sheet - a table with examples of sentences.

Value	Introductory words	Examples
Degree of certainty, assumptions, assumptions	Undoubtedly, unequivocally, it may turn out, of course, of course, perhaps, for example, perhaps, etc.	Possibly , our department will join this project next month. Katya, of course , the best student in the class.
Emotions, feelings and assessment of what is happening	Fortunately, to my surprise, to my shame, unfortunately, the hour is uneven, to joy, unfortunately, God forbid, thank the gods, etc.	The weather has deteriorated and, the hour is uneven , it will also rain in our city. Masha quickly found an error in the problem and, fortunately , managed to correct it.
Information source designation	According to scientists, according to the press, they say, according to experts, in my opinion, in your opinion, etc.	This summer, say , there will be many berries in the forest. According to scientists , green tea has a positive effect on the nervous system.
Indication of the sequence of events or thoughts	Firstly, therefore, therefore, on the contrary, finally, in particular, in the first place, thus, etc.	Katya dreamed of a trip, and Dasha, opposite , would like to stay at home. Winter will be harsh, therefore , you need to think about warming the house.
Calling attention to all or part of a proposal	Do you understand, do you know, look, listen, confess, if you want to know, do me a favor, etc.	Listen to , if he did it, then he had a good reason. We waited for him all evening, and he, you see , simply forgot about the meeting.
Indication of the commonness of an event or subject of conversation	It happened, usually, it happened, as always, as a rule, as usual, etc.	I came to work, as usual , at eight in the morning. It used to be , Ivan was late for the last bus and walked.
Remarks on the style and nature of speech, way of expressing thoughts	To put it mildly, to put it bluntly, in a word, to put it bluntly, in other words, or rather, to say what is called, etc.	Your act, to put it mildly , looks tactless and offends those around you. We live in a village near Tula, or rather , in the suburbs.

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Punctuation marks for introductory words

All introductory words in Russian are distinguished by punctuation marks, which is clearly seen in the examples from our table. In this they differ from the same words that act as members of a sentence and answer a certain question. In addition to the question, there is another way to understand whether it is necessary to put commas or other punctuation marks - try to move the word (phrase) to another part of the sentence.

• As a rule Ivan eats oatmeal for breakfast.
• Ivan, usually , eats oatmeal for breakfast.
• Ivan eats oatmeal for breakfast, usually .

The meaning of the statement has not changed, the construction looks good in any part of the sentence. This means that these are introductory words and they are separated by commas.

Amazing, usually can be so confusing and difficult to understand.

In this case, the phrase "usually" has a strong syntactic relationship with other words in the sentence, it cannot be moved without losing its meaning. So it is not introductory. We can check this assumption by analyzing it by composition, and we will find out that the "rule" here is the subject.

Important!

If in a compound sentence with the union “and” both parts of it are preceded by one inserted word, a comma is not required between these parts.

• Apparently , the lesson hasn't started yet and the children were still making noise outside the door.
• Luckily the rain had stopped and I didn't get wet at all on the way home.
• Yesterday I saw this document, hence , it was lying on the table and Nikolai could not pick it up.

How else is an introductory word distinguished in a sentence, apart from commas? Sometimes you can put a dash in front of it, but this refers more to the author's punctuation, which is needed to create a special rhythm of the text or convey intonation.

• I realized that I forgot my passport and I was very scared - the hour is uneven , I will have to turn back.
• Sergey was annoyed - you see , he expected to get a promotion this month.

Introductory words and insertive constructions

Insertive constructions and insertive sentences differ from introductory words in that they are an autonomous part of a sentence and contain a complete thought. They can act as incidental remarks, indications, author's explanations in relation to the main sentence, and sometimes even have a weak syntactic connection with it.

To make it clearer how the introductory words and plug-in constructions differ, we have compiled a small table.

Introductory words	Plug-in designs
July they say will be warm and sunny.	July, I think will be warm and sunny.
Alexey, of course already knew how to properly saddle a horse.	Aleksey, we were confident in this , he already knew how to saddle a horse correctly.
The ring lay in a conspicuous place and, certainly , attracted attention.	The ring lay in a conspicuous place, and - as the reader has already guessed - attracted attention.

It is easy to see that insert constructions, unlike introductory words, have their own subject and predicate. Very often they can be issued as a separate offer.

Short insertions may be separated by commas, while longer ones are often separated by parentheses or dashes. However, it depends not so much on the length of the structure, but on the author's intention. Putting a dash or bracket instead of a comma in most cases will not be a mistake.

• Several guys - there were about a dozen - turned off the path to eat raspberries.
• An old tram rumbled along the street ( such trams have long been discontinued ) and slowly disappeared around the corner.
• Once — Kolya and Vitya remembered this day for a long time. — dad took the whole family fishing in the neighboring region.

Usually, when choosing between commas, brackets and dashes, they are guided by the following: if an interstitial construction has little or no syntactic links with the sentence, it is better to enclose it in brackets.

Sometimes an interstitial sentence ends with an exclamation mark or a question mark to enhance expression. In this case, it can be distinguished exclusively by brackets or a dash.

Last spring - it was a real miracle! - the old apple tree is suddenly covered with flowers again.

Important!

If the insertion ends with an exclamation point or a question mark, then the sentence must be continued with a lowercase letter.

Interestingly, introductory words can sometimes be distinguished in the same way. As a rule, this is found in fiction and is one of the ways to emphasize emotions, express the feelings of the author or character.

• Katya carefully entered the dark room and — oh, horror! - noticed how the curtain swayed slightly by itself.
• And soon ( wonderful thing! ) Petya fell in love with mathematics so much that he solved all the problems for the next quarter.

Here we are dealing with introductory words that could be separated by commas, but in order to enhance the emotional coloring of the text, they are presented in the form of interstitial sentences with an exclamation point. They can equally well be separated by brackets or dashes.

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