The word "means" is separated by commas or not? "So": do you need a comma? Is "therefore" separated by commas or not? Hence separated by commas or not

Examples of using the introductory word "means" at the beginning of a sentence

Here are sentences in which a comma is placed after “means”, in them this word or its synonyms should be at the very beginning:

So you're not going to school today?
So lessons are canceled today?
So, homework didn't you ask?
Thus, I am absolutely free today.
So take your jacket and go home.
Therefore, you will still have time for the stadium.
So you'll be free soon.
So, let's wait.
Therefore, it needs to be redone.
So come on, think.

As can be seen from these examples, the meaning of the sentences is not entirely clear. This is because the introductory word "means" expresses the relationship of the effect. That is, it needs context. Let's consider such examples.

Introductory word "means" in the middle of a sentence

In these cases, note that a comma is also placed before “means” and its synonyms, that is, this word is highlighted on both sides:

Classes are canceled today, so you're not going to school today?
The school is in quarantine from today, so lessons are cancelled.
There were no classes today, therefore, you were not assigned homework.
We were not given homework, which means that I am absolutely free today.
If you have already finished work, then take your jacket and go home.
You were released earlier, so you will have time to get to the stadium.
Today is a shortened day, therefore, soon you will be free.
Mom will not return soon, so we will wait.
You have a lot of mistakes in your work, therefore, you need to redo it.
You completed the task with errors, so get together, think.

Comma checking

Recall that the placement of commas in introductory words is checked by skipping them:

Classes are canceled today, are you going to school today?
The USE test is being held at the school, have the lessons been canceled today?
There were no classes today, no homework was assigned to you.
We were not given homework, I am absolutely free today.
If you have already finished work, take your jacket and go home.
You were released earlier, you will have time to get to the stadium.
Today is a shortened day, soon you will 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, it is quite possible to remove this introductory word from the sentence without compromising the meaning. The punctuation mark is still present, in these cases it separates simple sentences within the complex. The comma has nothing to do with the word "means".

Not introductory

The word "means" is separated by commas or not. Consider the conditions under which no punctuation marks are required. Firstly, it must be a predicate, and then it will be impossible to remove it without prejudice to the meaning of the statement, and secondly, a question can be posed to it from the subject, a question is raised from it to dependent words.

For example:

Family (what does it do?) means (to whom?) everything to me.
It doesn't mean anything (what doesn't it do?).
Something yes (what does?) mean.
His word means a lot (what does?) mean.

In all these sentences, the word "means" does not contain a comma.

Work with text

Let's say we need to write out the numbers of sentences in which the introductory word "means" is separated by a comma:

1) Grandmother loves music very much, but her career as a pianist somehow did not work out. 2) And she strives with all her might to make a musician out of Alyosha. 3) And the dream of seeing her grandson as a famous artist means a lot to her. 4) She finds that Aleksey even outwardly resembles the young Paganini.

5) None of the family personally knows this famous violinist, but dad dares to say that he had black eyes and a thin, pale face framed by jet hair. 6) Alyosha is chubby, blush, blue-eyed and fair-haired. 7) So, there is no complete coincidence of external signs. 8) But the grandmother stubbornly insists that the resemblance lies in the depths of the eyes, and they shine with the same inspiration in her grandson as in the famous Italian. 9) Only she sees it. 10) All the rest find that in the eyes of the boy there is complete calm, which sometimes only slightly mixes with slyness.

11) The grandson's musical career is still not set, and in order to somehow get things off the ground, the grandmother decides on a trick. 12) One day she answers questions from a riddle concert and sends a letter to the editor on behalf of her grandson. 13) And a few days later, the announcer announces on the radio in a surprised voice that a second-grade student answered eleven out of thirteen questions correctly, which means that he takes second place in the music quiz. 14) In addition, she notices that the child's answers are not childishly detailed and intelligent, which indicates that music is taught at the highest level in his school.

15) But in fact, music was not taught at Alyosha's school at all: they could not find an intelligent teacher in any way. 16) But after the victory of Alyosha in a music competition, I had to immediately find it. 17) After all, others began to beg to exchange experiences. 18) “If you have such successful students, then you have wonderful teachers music, - the director of the Alyosha school was told by the leaders educational institutions cities - do not be greedy, share.

19) Alyosha's grandmother rejoiced: it means that her idea still benefited, even if not her grandson, but at least someone would become a great musician with her direct participation.

The correct answer will be this: with the introductory word “means”, a comma is placed in sentences 7, 18, 19.

To understand whether and where to put a comma when using the word "therefore", you should pay attention to the meaning of the lexeme. Whether "therefore" is separated by commas or not depends entirely on the context.

The word "therefore" is separated by commas

From two sides

If “therefore” is used as an introductory word (meaning “thus”, “henceforth”) and is inside a sentence, it is separated by commas on both sides.

We therefore leave immediately.
The video cameras worked, and it turned out, therefore, that he was innocent of the forgery of documents.

Before the word

A comma is placed only before "therefore" when the word acts as a union (meaning "which means", "and therefore").

The students are well prepared for control work so they won't get bad grades.
He often writes at night, so the light is on for a long time in the room.

After the word

1. After the introductory word "therefore", a comma is placed when it is at the beginning of a sentence.

Therefore, there is only one conclusion to be drawn.
Therefore, the celebration will take place at the appointed time.

2. If “hence” at the beginning of a sentence is preceded by a joining union (“but”, “yes”, “a”, “and”), a comma is placed after the lexeme.

And therefore, he recognized her only thanks to a conventional sign.
Therefore, we will reschedule the meeting for tomorrow.

3. If "therefore" after coordinating union(usually "a") cannot be excluded from the sentence (without losing the meaning or structure), then the comma is placed only after the word. It does not separate from the union.

Consequently and ( obsolete) CONSEQUENTLY
1. introductory word So, it has become. Mistakes are made, the score is therefore reduced.
2. union. Hence, because of this, therefore. You are angry, therefore you are wrong.
A (-i) therefore, the union is the same as therefore (in 2 significant.).

Word usage examples Consequently in the context

Consequently

Verbs, names and adverbs in a sentence can act as introductory words, which in one way or another - grammatically, lexically, intonationally - express the speaker's attitude to what he reports.

Compare two sentences:

This question, it seemed troubled the guest.

Face his it seemed calm .

In both examples, the word it seemed , but only in the second case is this word included in the members of the sentence: there it is part of the compound nominal predicate.

In the first example, the word it seemed serves only to express the attitude of the speaker to what he reports. Such words are called introductory; they are not part of the sentence and can easily be omitted, for example: This question ... made the guest difficult. Note that in the second sentence, skip the word it seemed impossible.

Compare a few more examples in the table:

Take with you by the way, our books.
This phrase by the way reminded me of an old joke.

These words are spoken by the way.

This phrase was spoken by the way.

Words separated by commas can be removed from a sentence without destroying its meaning.

By the way, from the first sentence, you can ask the question HOW?
To the phrase BETWEEN OTHERS, you can put the question WHEN?

Many words can be used as introductory words. But there is a group of words that are never introductory. Read two sentences:

There will obviously be a good harvest this year;
There will certainly be a good harvest this year.

The first sentence uses the word obviously, in the second - certainly . Although these words are very close in meaning, only the word from the first sentence is separated by commas and is introductory. The words below must be remembered: they are very similar to introductory words, but they are not and commas are not separated:

MAYBE, AS IF, SUDDENLY, BECAUSE, HERE, IT IS LIKELY, ALL THE SAME, EVEN, EXACTLY, AS IF, JUST, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, MANDATORY, ALMOST, ONLY, ALLEGEDLY.

Introductory words can convey five various types values:

Most often, with the help of introductory words, the speaker conveys various degree of certainty in what he says. For example: You will surely do well in the exam. or You seem to need to do more. This group includes the words:

OF COURSE, OF COURSE, UNDOubtedly, DEFINITELY, WITHOUT A DOUBT, DEFINITELY, REALLY, SEEMS, PROBABLY, POSSIBLY, PLEASE.

Introductory words can also convey feelings and attitude speaker to what he is talking about. For example: Unfortunately, you didn't do well in your exam.

LUCKYLY, UNFORTUNATELY, SURPRISELY, UNFORTUNATELY.

Sometimes introductory words indicate on the The source of information reported by the speaker. Introductory phrases in this case begin with the words BY MESSAGE, BY WORDS, BY OPINION. For example: You, according to doctors, need to interrupt training for a while.

The source of the message may also be the speaker himself (IN MY OPINION, IN MY OPINION), or the source may be indefinite (SPOKEN, HEARD). For example: You, they say, will have to interrupt training.

BY MESSAGE, BY WORDS, BY OPINION, BY HEARING, SAYING, HEARD, IN MY OPINION, IN MY OPINION, IN YOUR WAY.

Introductory words are also used for ordering thoughts and indications of their relationship with each other. For example: Firstly, this participle was formed from the verb perfect look; secondly, it has dependent words. Therefore, it should contain two letters N.

FIRSTLY, SECONDLY, THIRDLY, FINALLY, THEREFORE, THEREFORE, SO, ON THE CONTRAST, FOR EXAMPLE, ON THE REVERSE.

There are also sentences where the introductory words indicate on the way of thinking. For example: In a word, everything went well.

OTHERWISE, IN ONE WORD, IT IS BETTER TO SAY IT SOFTLY.

Introductory words also include words that serve to attract attention interlocutor:

KNOW (KNOW), UNDERSTAND (UNDERSTAND), LISTEN (LISTEN), SEE (SEE) and others.

The same meanings can be expressed not only by introductory words, but also by similar predicative constructions (introductory sentences). Compare: Snowfall likely to end soon and The snowfall, I think, will end soon. In addition to commas, for highlighting introductory proposals brackets or dashes may be used. This is done when the introductory construction is very common and contains additional comments or explanations. For example:

Here we pass once through our village, years will be - how to tell you not to lie - fifteen years. (Turgenev)
Alexei (the reader has already recognized it) meanwhile he gazed intently at the young peasant woman. (Pushkin)

The rule of isolation of introductory words and sentences has several very important notes.

If the introductory word is preceded by the union A or BUT, then a comma is not always placed between the introductory word and the union. Compare a couple of sentences:
The doctor has finished but of course, look at a seriously ill patient.
He gave his word and consequently, must restrain him.

The introductory word can be rearranged or removed without a union only in the first case, so a comma is required between the introductory word and the union. In the second sentence, this cannot be done, which means that the comma is not put.

Very often, difficulties arise in sentences with the words HOWEVER and FINALLY. The word HOWEVER stands out only when it cannot be replaced by the union BUT. Compare two sentences:
However we understand that this figure is still low(HOWEVER = BUT) . Bye, but, we still don't have a clear picture of what's going on(HOWEVER - introductory word) .

The word FINALLY is introductory only when it has no spatial or temporal meaning, but indicates the order of thoughts. For example:
I hope this project will be completed soon. finally will be implemented. AND, finally, The last thing I would like to pay attention to.

Introductory words can begin with a separate construction, for example, a clarifying phrase. In this case, a comma is not placed after the introductory word (in other words, the comma, which was supposed to “close” the introductory word, is transferred to the end of a separate turnover).

I saw, or rather felt, that she was not indifferent to me.

In addition, a comma is not placed before the introductory word located at the end of a separate turnover.

For the holidays, we decided to go somewhere, to Kolomna for example.

If the introductory word is in the middle of a separate construction, then it is separated by commas on a common basis.

I decided to declare my love, feeling, it seems, in my heart that she, too, was not indifferent to me.

If the introductory words are located before the turnover, beginning with the words "how" or "to", then they are separated by commas.

The day she lived seemed meaningless to her, in fact, like all life.
He thought for a moment probably, to find the right words.

An exercise

The portraits hung in front of the mirror.
On the contrary, he did not even change his face.
On the one hand, I completely agree with you.
On the one hand, a double-headed eagle was depicted on the coin.
The truth is always better than a lie.
I_true_ was somewhat surprised by this news.
In spring, flooding is possible.
There will be a flood in the spring.
Everyone in our city is already talking about it.
In Greece_ they say_ everything is there.
Maybe_ you deigned to express yourself in this way for the beauty of the style? (Gogol).
The weather forecast says it will be colder next week.
As scientists say, global warming awaits us.
The train leaves in an hour_ therefore_ we need to leave the house.
Fortunately, Pechorin was immersed in thought (Lermontov).
We have gathered here _ firstly_ in order to resolve the issue of the timing of work.
He didn’t want to shoot himself_ thank God_ he didn’t want to try ... (Pushkin).
Of course, you have seen the album (Pushkin) of the county young lady more than once.
In one word, you got off lightly.
So_ now we can conclude.
You do not interfere with me in the least,” he objected, “if you please, shoot, but_ by the way_ as you like; your shot is yours; I am always ready at your service (Pushkin).
She suffered for a very long time after separation, but_ as you know, time heals any wounds.
The wind, however, was strong.
Fedya brought flowers_ however_ Masha did not like it.
A strong yet warm wind blew through the window.
A good upbringing, as you know, is obtained in boarding schools (Gogol).
However, there are various improvements and changes in methods ... (Gogol).
You must certainly come to us.
I took from the table_ as I remember now_ the ace of hearts and threw it up (Lermontov).
However, even General Khvalynsky himself did not like to talk about his service career; he seems to have never been to war (Turgenev).
You become wild - you know - if you live locked up all the time (Gogol).
Probably_ he was a man of gratitude and wanted to pay this for good treatment.
You supposedly were supposed to come to his office and report on the trip.
Yes, I confess, I thought so myself.
Anyway, I decided to do things my own way.
Ivan Petrovich_ you know_ was an extraordinary person.
Nobody went to him, of course, (Turgenev).
Gleb, as far as I knew, studied well at the Bryansk gymnasium (Paustovsky).
But_ perhaps_ the reader is already tired of sitting with me at Ovsyannikov's one-palace, and therefore I am eloquently silent (Turgenev).
My arrival - I could notice it - at first somewhat embarrassed the guests.
However_ political process began to develop in a different way.
In my last report, I hastened to inform you that we finally managed to solve this problem.
The experiences of transformations that were around us, no doubt, had a strong influence on the thoughts of most of the people involved in them (M. M. Speransky).
A group of border guards led by an officer went to the violators with the intention, as it_ happened_ earlier, to protest and demand that they leave the territory.
Finalization of the agreement will probably take several more months.
Secondly, there are many abuses in the field of international tourism.
However_ if you remain committed to the spirit and letter of this document, it could not be otherwise.
We all know very well, and everyone here knows well that on the western, or _ as they say_ the second front, about 1.5 million Allied troops and about 560 thousand German troops were concentrated.
This modest, symbolic gesture_ seems to me_ full of deep meaning.
Luckily, the examples mentioned above are the exception, not the rule.
Extra value luggage_ can be claimed for certain types of items.
The reason for this is obvious: when the mind begins to recognize the price of freedom, it dismisses with negligence all the children's toys, so to speak, with which it amused itself in its infancy (M. M. Speransky).
Pravda_ spoke to me politely, did not force me to do anything, and I remember that I had the impression that he did not take all these accusations seriously.
But in our case, the truth quickly came out, and we were soon released.