The use of dashes in simple and complex sentences. Dash Rules Examples

In addition, it must be remembered that in the case when you need to put a sign between numbers or words reflecting quantitative uncertainty, do not put a dash, but a hyphen:

She hasn't left the house for five or seven days.

Add 3-4 teaspoons of anise and dill to the sauce.

Before the general word

The obligatory case when a dash is placed is a sentence in which the generalizing word follows the homogeneous members of the sentence. It is preceded by a dash.

Currants, gooseberries, raspberries, irgu - all the berries the girl managed to taste this summer.

Distant relatives, friends whom he had not seen for a long time, half-forgotten colleagues from his old job - for some reason they all began to be remembered recently.

Before an appendix at the end of a sentence

If the application at the absolute end of the sentence needs to be logically distinguished, this is indicated by a dash in writing:

When we entered, his cat ran out to meet us - fluffy Alice.

All the way, my son kept telling me about his new acquaintance, Boris Ivanovich.

How I would like to chat with you as a specialist about my favorite business - construction.

Before the minor member of the sentence, which is expressed by the infinitive

If minor member sentences are expressed by the infinitive and have an explanatory character, it is separated by a dash.

Finally, a plan matured in him and a decision was born - to take the first step and make peace.

A child who hates school has only one choice - to use every opportunity to play truant legally.

For insert structures

Any dashes are surrounded by dashes, including those that end with a question or exclamation mark. This is actually the case when a dash is put between sentences.

And these little newborn kittens - I don't even want to think about it! - live in such conditions.

All good students - how could it be otherwise? - must be passionate about their future profession.

In non-union proposals

In cases where a dash is placed, the non-union proposal contains such parts that are opposed to each other:

We officially invited him to visit - he did not even deign to answer anything.

ask her homework She'll pretend like nothing happened.

In addition, a dash is placed before that part of the non-union sentence, the meaning of which is to express the conclusion, result or consequence of what is said in the previous part of the complex sentence:

Mom came - and all the sorrows, as always, seemed small and quickly forgotten.

When making direct speech and dialogue

Dash in complex sentence put, in addition, when making a direct speech, separates the words of the author from the quote:

"I have already come! - the daughter shouted cheerfully and, after a pause, mysteriously asked: - Do you know who I saw today?

When making a dialogue, a dash is also placed before each statement:

Can't you learn to keep secrets? - strictly asked Mitya's father.

- I can. I keep it, I just didn’t know that you also need to keep it from you, - the kid answered lostly.

In addition, there are other special cases when a dash is put in a sentence, but basically all of them are variants or modifications of those listed.

The Russian language is large and complex. One of the reasons for the difficulty of learning the Russian language is the flexibility of its grammatical structures. Memorizing the entire set of rules for punctuation is an almost impossible task even for those who consider Russian their native language. One of the most difficult in terms of punctuation is the usual dash.

Dash Rules

The following rules describe when to put a dash in a sentence (examples in brackets to illustrate the rules). So, in what cases is a dash put:

1. Between the predicate and the subject, if the predicate is a noun and is used in nominative case. (A wolf is an animal. A good car is a man's dream.) If the predicate is with the particle not, then the dash is omitted. (A car is not a luxury.);
2. Between the predicate and the subject, if the subject is in the nominative case, and the predicate is the indefinite form of the verb, or if they are both verbs of the indefinite form. (The dream is to live forever. To sleep is not to carry bags.);
3. A dash is placed before "this" if the predicate is attached to the subject with this word. This rule applies to the words "this is", "here", "this means" (A lion is a beast. Flying is a worthy dream.);
4. Before generalizing words after enumerations. (The eye, nose, mouth - everything on the face. Neither tears, nor prayer - nothing touched him.);
5. Before an appendix if it is at the end of a sentence. (He wanted one thing - money and only money.);
6. Between a pair of predicates or sentences, if in the second - a sharp opposition or unexpected attachment to the first. (I came - and everyone is already here! I wanted to drink - I dropped the glass.);
7. Between sentences or words connected without conjunctions to emphasize a sharp contrast. (Not the water in that bowl is the nectar of the gods.);
8. Between sentences, if the second contains a conclusion from the first or a result and is not connected by a union. (The palm itches - there will be money. Fingers in the socket - it will shock.);
9. Between the subordinate and main clauses, if the main comes second and is not joined by a union. (The forest is cut down - chips fly.);
10. At the place where simple sentences break up into two groups of words, if it is impossible to express it in another way. (The enemy - to the dust! And the sergeant - the medal "For Courage.");
11. In a sentence in the middle, two dashes highlight explanations and additions, if bracketing reduces the expressiveness of the text. (And Pakhomych - a rare bastard and a rogue - did not come at all.);
12. In a sentence in the middle, two dashes highlight a common application if it is necessary to show its independence. (Behind the wall of the house - an ordinary rural five-wall - a whole detachment was hiding.);
13. In a sentence in the middle, a group of homogeneous members is distinguished by two dashes. (Usually building materials - boards, nails, logs and staples - are prepared in advance.) If such a listing is preceded by a generalizing word, then a dash is needed only at the end. (The entire detachment, namely: Petya, Vasya, Igor and Semyon, did not enter the lineup.);
14. After a comma, when it is necessary to separate the main sentence from the group of subordinate clauses and emphasize the disintegration of the whole into parts. (There will be an end of the world, there won't be - no one knows.);
15. After the decimal point, when you need to specify an increase or decrease in the period. (People fly into space, curbed atomic energy, write ingenious music, create unprecedented structures - and you can’t take out the trash!);
16. Between words, if these words limit the spatial, temporal or quantitative gap. (Flight Ankara - Yerevan. Break 5-7 minutes.);
17. Between the constituent parts of the name of a teaching or scientific institutions. (Law of Biot-Savart-Laplace.);

As you can see, there are a lot of rules explaining when a dash is put, and not all cases are even listed here when this punctuation mark can be used. Also, information in which sentences a dash is placed can be found in the article “Why do you need a dash?”.

dash or colon

Often when writing, they confuse the cases when a dash is put, and when a colon is put. As a rule, a colon is placed before the enumeration, which is preceded by a generalizing word; before direct speech; before two or more sentences not connected by conjunctions, one of which explains the other.

• • • One of the effective and interesting methods of working on the rules of Russian punctuation is the independent selection by students of examples for the rule passed from various texts. These can be works of both domestic and foreign literature, both classical and modern. In addition, it can be not only works of art, but also texts of a scientific or journalistic style (fragments or individual sentences from encyclopedias, articles, etc.). The only prohibition is not to use educational literature, especially Russian language textbooks. It is very simple to check whether the student found an example on his own: ask everyone to indicate the author (surname and initials) of the book from which the sentence is written, as well as its title. By checking the performance of this task, you will not only get an idea of ​​​​the ability of each student to produce syntactic and punctuation analysis of the text, but also learn the reading habits of your students. Classes in Russian become more interesting, livelier. Best Examples should be dictated to the class and analyzed. Be sure to name the person from whose notebook the proposal is taken. The guys are also interested in learning more about each other: what they read, what they are interested in besides school curriculum. Do not forbid choosing examples from children's books, even if your students are high school students. In A. Miln's fairy tale "Winnie the Pooh", translated by B. Zakhoder, one can find almost all possible cases in Russian of setting a dash and a colon. Gradually, you will collect a collection of wonderful examples that you will use in your lessons instead of boring and boring examples from textbooks for everyone (and especially for you). Here are sentences collected by my students on one of the most "extensive" punctuation topics. These examples are suitable for a generalizing repetition on the topic “Dash”, when all private topics have been covered: a dash between the subject and the predicate, before generalizing words, when highlighting applications, plug-in structures, between parts of a complex non-union sentence, etc.

When to put a dash

A dash, as a rule, is used in non-union complex sentences to indicate the nature of the semantic connection between its parts. However, there are other uses of this punctuation mark.

Dash setting is adjustable the following rules Russian grammar:

1. A dash is placed in sentences with a compound nominal predicate, between the subjects and the predicate. In sentences of this kind, the predicate, as a rule, is a generic concept in relation to the subject. For example:

The tiger is a predator;

Cow - artiodactyl;

Birch - tree;

My older sister is a teacher;

My older sister is my teacher.

Note 1. However, if the subject and predicate is the negative particle “not”, then the dash is not put:

Poverty is not a vice;

The goose is not a bird.

Note 2. A dash between the subject and the predicate is not put if they are used in an interrogative sentence, and the subject is expressed by a pronoun, for example:

2. If the subject in the sentence is expressed by a noun , and the predicate is an indefinite form of the verb (infinitive), or they are both expressed in infinitive, then a dash is placed between them, for example:

• To love you is to wag your nerves;
• The desire of every person is to love and be loved.

3. A dash is placed before words “this”, “means”, “this is”, “here”, etc. in sentences where the predicate is expressed by a noun in the nominative case or infinitive. As a rule, these words serve to attach the predicate to the subject, and also indicate that a comparison or definition will now follow, for example:

Desire is the need of a person in spite of all adversity to make his life better;

Romance is moonlit walks and admiring eyes;

Loyalty is the stronghold of true human relationships, trust is the stronghold of a strong family.

4. A dash is placed in sentences with enumerations before a generalizing word. For example:

Dreams, hopes, beauty - everything will be swallowed up by the inexorable course of time;

Neither her tears, nor her pleading eyes, nor sadness - nothing could make him come back.

5. A dash is placed before the application at the end of the sentence in two cases:

a) If it is possible to put the construction “namely” before the application without distorting the meaning of the sentence, for example:

I don't like this animal too much - a cat.

In a conversation, he demanded one thing - correctness.

I obey only one person - my father.

b) If explanatory words are used in the application, and the author needs to additionally indicate the independence of this construction, for example:

I had a cast-iron teapot with me - my only consolation in traveling around the Caucasus (Lermontov).

6. A dash is placed between two predicates or between parts of a complex sentence if the author needs to unexpectedly attach or sharply oppose them in relation to each other. For example:

I went into the room, not thinking of seeing anyone there, and froze.

I'm more likely to Petka - and that's all there.

I wanted to travel around the whole world - and did not travel around the hundredth part (Griboedov).

I wanted to sit down to sew - and the needle pricked my fingers, I wanted to cook porridge - the milk ran away.

Note 1. In order to enhance the sense of surprise, a dash can be placed after coordinating conjunctions that link parts of the same sentence. For example:

Take a vacation - and go to the family.

I really want to go there to meet them, but I'm afraid (M. Gorky)

Note 2: In addition, for even more surprise, a dash can separate any part of a sentence, for example:

And she ate the poor singer - to the crumbs (Krylov).

And the grandfather threw the ruff into the river.

According to the rules of the Russian language, there is no need to put a dash in these sentences. However, it is put only in order to better convey the meaning and reflect what really happened.

7. A dash is placed between the parts of a non-union complex sentence if the second part contains the result or conclusion from what was said in the first, for example:

Praises are tempting - how not to wish for them? (Krylov).

The moon has drawn a path across the sea - the night has laid a light veil.

8. A dash is placed between the parts of a non-union complex sentence if between them there is a type of connection "subordinate part - main part":

• Gruzdev called himself get in the body.
• They cut the forest - the chips fly.

9. A dash is placed in order to indicate the boundary of decay simple sentence into two word groups. This is done only if it is impossible to isolate this decay by other means. For example:

• So I say: do the guys need it?

Very often, such a decay is observed when one of the members of the sentence is omitted, for example:

• Marinka for a good study - a ticket to the sea, and Egorka - a new computer.
• I will - into a fist, my heart - from my chest, and I rushed after him.
• Everything is obedient to me, but I am nothing (Pushkin).

10. In addition, with the help of a dash, they distinguish:

a) Sentences and words used in the middle of a sentence and serving to explain what was said, but only if the brackets can weaken the connection between the insert and the one being explained, for example:

• Here - there is nothing to do - I got into his cart and sat down.
• How suddenly - a miracle! oh shame! - the oracle spoke nonsense (Krylov).
• And only once - and then by accident - I spoke to him.

b) A common application if it comes after the noun it defines and needs to emphasize its own independence, for example:

• The senior sergeant - a gallant aged Cossack with stripes for extra-long service - ordered to "build up" (Sholokhov).
• In front of the doors of the club - a wide log house - workers with banners (Fedin) were waiting for the guests.

c) Homogeneous members of the sentence, if they are in the middle of the sentence and need special emphasis, for example:

• Usually, from the riding villages - Elanskaya, Vyoshenskaya, Migulinskaya and Kazanskaya - they took Cossacks to the 11-12th army Cossack regiments and to the Life Guards Atamansky (Sholokhov).
• And again, the same picture - crooked houses, road potholes and dirty puddles - opened up to my eyes.

11. A dash can be used as an additional punctuation mark after a comma in sentences where there are two repeated words. , and this repetition is necessary in order to connect one part of this sentence with another. For example:

• I knew very well that it was my husband, not some new, unknown person, but good man- my husband, whom I knew as myself (L. Tolstoy).
• Now, as an investigator, Ivan Ilyich felt that without exception, the most important, self-satisfied people, everything was in his hands (L. Tolstoy).

12. A dash is placed after a group of subordinate clauses before the main part of a complex sentence in order to emphasize the split into two semantic parts. For example:

• Whether it was worth it or not is not for me to decide.
• Whether Stoltz did anything for this, what he did and how he did it, we do not know (Dobrolyubov).

13. A dash is placed in paired constructions, meaning any temporal, spatial or quantitative framework , and in this case it is synonymous with a pair of prepositions "from ... to", for example:

• Flight Novosibirsk - Moscow,
• 1991 – 2001,
• Ten to twelve grams.

14. A dash is placed between two proper names if collectively they name any teaching or discovery:

• Boyle's physical law - Mariotte.

All cases of setting a dash.
Repetition

Material prepared by students

One of the effective and interesting methods of working on the rules of Russian punctuation is the independent selection by students of examples for the rule passed from various texts. These can be works of both domestic and foreign literature, both classical and modern. In addition, it can be not only works of art, but also texts of a scientific or journalistic style (fragments or individual sentences from encyclopedias, articles, etc.). The only prohibition is not to use educational literature, especially Russian language textbooks. It is very simple to check whether the student found an example on his own: ask everyone to indicate the author (surname and initials) of the book from which the sentence is written, as well as its title. By checking the performance of this task, you will not only get an idea of ​​​​the ability of each student to produce syntactic and punctuation analysis of the text, but also learn the reading habits of your students. Classes in Russian become more interesting, livelier. The best examples should be dictated to the class and analyzed. Be sure to name the person from whose notebook the proposal is taken. The children are also interested in learning more about each other: what they read, what they are interested in besides the school curriculum. Do not forbid choosing examples from children's books, even if your students are high school students. In A. Miln's fairy tale "Winnie the Pooh", translated by B. Zakhoder, one can find almost all possible cases in Russian of setting a dash and a colon.
Gradually, you will collect a collection of wonderful examples that you will use in your lessons instead of boring and boring examples from textbooks for everyone (and especially for you).
Here are sentences collected by my students on one of the most "extensive" punctuation topics. These examples are suitable for a generalizing repetition on the topic “Dash”, when all private topics have been covered: a dash between the subject and the predicate, before generalizing words, when highlighting applications, plug-in structures, between parts of a complex non-union sentence, etc.

A DASH IS PLACED

1. Between the subject and the predicate with a zero link, if the main members are expressed by a noun, an infinitive, a quantitative numeral in the nominative case, as well as a phrase containing the indicated parts of speech.

Is it really, I thought, that my only purpose on earth is to destroy other people's hopes? ( M.Yu. Lermontov. Hero of our time)

Love beautifies life.
Love is the charm of nature. ( MM. Zoshchenko. blue book. Love)

Love is a form, and my own form is already decaying. ( I.S. Turgenev. Fathers and Sons)

Let me note by the way: all poets are dreamy friends of love. ( A.S. Pushkin. Eugene Onegin)

And genius and villainy are two incompatible things. ( A.S. Pushkin. Mozart and Salieri)

- Prokatilov - power! - the company began to console Struchkov. ( A.P. Chekhov. on a nail)

Know my destiny is to cherish dreams
And there with a sigh in the air
Spread fiery tears.

It's typical foppery to rob a poor widow. ( I.Ilf, E.Petrov. The twelve Chairs)

2. Before words this, that means standing between the subject and the predicate.

And to reduce the sum of human lives by 50 million years is not criminal. ( E. Zamyatin. We)

But we know that dreams are a serious mental illness. ( E. Zamyatin. We)

Live forever in torment
in the midst of deep doubts
This is a strong ideal
Creating nothing, hating, despising
And shining like crystal.

(N. Gumilyov. Evil genius, king of doubt.)

3. If the subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, and the predicate is expressed by a noun in the nominative case, a dash is placed in the following cases:

a) in the logical selection of the pronoun:

She is the culprit of that transformation. ( I.A. Goncharov. Oblomov)
You are a ladder in a big, foggy house. ( V.V. Nabokov. Stairs)

b) in opposition:

I thirst and hunger, and you are an empty flower,
And meeting with you is more dreary than granite.

(B.L. Parsnip. Miracle)

Here we are, partners in gatherings.
Here Anna is an accomplice of nature.

(B.A. Akhmadulina. Anna Kalandadze)

in) in reverse word order:

The swan is here, taking a deep breath,
Said: “Why far?
Know that your fate is near
After all, this princess is me.

(A.S. Pushkin. The Tale of Tsar Saltan)

G) with structural parallelism of parts of a sentence:

He is all a child of goodness and light,
He is all - freedom triumph!

(A.A. Block. Oh, I want to live crazy!)

4. If there is a pause in place of the missing main or minor member in incomplete sentences.

Wandering eyes, Ivan Savelyevich declared that on Thursday afternoon he got drunk alone in his office at the Variety, after which he went somewhere, but he doesn’t remember where, he drank starka somewhere else, but where he doesn’t remember where he was lying under the fence, but again, he doesn’t remember where. ( M.A. Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita)

In winter, there was a lot of light on Peschanaya Street, it was gray and deserted, in spring it was sunny and cheerful, especially when looking at the white wall of the archpriest's house, at the clean windows, at the gray-green tops of poplars in the blue sky. ( I.A. Bunin. Cup of life)

Fire is met with fire
Trouble - trouble and ailment treat ailments.

(W. Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Per. B.L. Pasternak)

5. Intonation dash between any members of the sentence.

The dead lay - and babbled a terrible, unknown speech. ( A.S. Pushkin. Feast in Time of Plague)

The prince removed the lock, opened the door and stepped back in amazement, even shuddered all over: Nastasya Filippovna stood before him. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Idiot)

This is a giant of thought, the father of Russian democracy and a person close to the emperor. ( I. Ilf, E. Petrov. The twelve Chairs)

6. In the notes, the explained word is separated from the explanation by a dash (regardless of the form of expression of the predicate).

Sibyl Samiiska - from the name of the island of Samos. ( D.S. Busslovich. People, heroes, gods)

7. With generalizing words:

a) if the generalizing word is after the homogeneous members of the sentence:

Disgrace, execution, dishonor, taxes, and labor, and hunger - you have experienced everything. ( A.S. Pushkin. Boris Godunov)

The triumph of self-preservation, salvation from the crushing danger - that was what filled his whole being at that moment. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Crime and Punishment)

b) when a generalizing word is in front of homogeneous members, a colon is placed after it, and a dash is placed after homogeneous members if the sentence continues after them:

everything around: the blood-drenched field, the French lying in a pile everywhere, the scattered dirty rags in the blood - it was disgusting and disgusting. ( L.N. Tolstoy. War and Peace)

A crowd of buildings: human, barns, cellars - filled the yard. ( N.V. Gogol. Dead Souls)

8. Between words and numbers to indicate spatial, temporal or quantitative limits (“from. to”).

The milestone was once along the large waterway Voronezh - Azov. ( M.A. Sholokhov. Quiet Don)

Note. If between nouns - proper names or numbers you can insert or, then put a hyphen.

There were also two or three former literary celebrities who happened then in St. Petersburg and with whom Varvara Petrovna had long maintained the most elegant relations. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Demons)

9. To isolate the application, if it is of an explanatory nature.

Another thing - getting money - met with obstacles in the same way. ( L.N. Tolstoy. Anna Karenina)

10. Before an application at the end of a sentence, if it is logically selected.

In my room I found the clerk of the neighboring estate, Nikita Nazaritch Mishchenko. ( A.I. Kuprin. Olesya)

He walked the whole Bogoyavlenskaya street; finally it went downhill, my feet rode in the mud, and suddenly a wide, foggy, as if empty space opened up - a river. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Demons)

11. To isolate common agreed definitions at the end of a sentence, especially when listing:

This is in some showcases, and in others hundreds of ladies' hats appeared, and with feathers, and without feathers, and with buckles, and without them, hundreds of shoes - black, white, yellow, leather, satin, suede, and with straps, and with pebbles. ( M.A. Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita)

12. To isolate the secondary members of the sentence, expressed by the infinitive, which are of an explanatory nature, both at the end and in the middle of the sentence:

Cat Vasily took a spring vacation - to get married. ( A. and B. Strugatsky. Monday starts on Saturday

Because of Sibgatov, Dontsova even changed the direction of her scientific interests: she delved into the pathology of bones from one impulse - to save Sibgatov. ( A.I. Solzhenitsyn. Cancer Corps)

13. For separating plug-in structures.

Killed him - what a strange word! - a month later, in Galicia. ( I.A. Bunin. Cold autumn)

But don't try to keep for yourself
Given to you by heaven:
Condemned - and we know it ourselves -
We squander, not hoard.

(A.A. Akhmatova. Us the freshness of words.)

14. Between parts of a compound sentence, if the sentence contains a contrast or indicates a quick change of events.

The horses walked at a pace - and soon they stopped. ( A.S. Pushkin. Captain's daughter)

The hetman has reigned - and it's great. ( M.A. Bulgakov. White Guard)

15. For the intonational separation of the subordinate and main clauses (often in sentences with structure parallelism).

If death is light, I die
If death, I will burn lightly.
And I do not forgive my tormentors,
But for the flour - I thank them.

And today the air smells of death:
Open a window - what to open the veins. ( B.L. Parsnip. Gap)

16. In non-union complex sentences, if:

a) the second part is opposed to the first:

They were chasing me - I was not embarrassed in spirit. ( A.S. Pushkin. Boris Godunov)

Do good - he will not say thank you. ( A.S. Pushkin. Boris Godunov)

b) the second part contains a consequence, a result, a conclusion from what is said in the first:

Veli - I will die; commanded - I will breathe only for you. ( A.S. Pushkin. stone guest)

I met you - and all the past
In the obsolete heart came to life;
I remembered the golden time -
And my heart felt so warm.

I'm dying - I have nothing to lie. ( I.S. Turgenev. Fathers and Sons)

c) the second part contains a comparison with what is said in the first:

It will pass - as if the sun will shine!
Look - the ruble will give.

(ON. Nekrasov. Jack Frost)

d) the sentence expresses a quick change of events, an unexpected addition:

Come to me for a glass of rum
Come - we will shake the old days.

(A.S. Pushkin. Today I'm at home in the morning.)

e) the first part indicates the time or condition for performing the action referred to in the second part:

God willing - ten, twenty years,
And twenty-five, and thirty he will live.

(A.S. Pushkin. Miserly knight);

I don't give a damn, Varvara Ardalionovna; whatever you want, at least now fulfill your intention. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Idiot)

And flowers, and bumblebees, and grass, and ears of corn,
And azure, and midday heat.
The time will come - the Lord will ask the prodigal son:
“Were you happy in your earthly life?”

(I.A. Bunin. And flowers, and bumblebees.)

e) with the explanatory meaning of the second part (you can insert a union before it what); however, a colon is usually used in this case, compare:

I know there's a nail in my boot
more nightmarish than Goethe's fantasy!

(V.V. Mayakovsky. A cloud in pants)

I will tell you with the last
Directness:
All just nonsense - sherry brandy -
My angel.

(O.E. Mandelstam. I'll tell you.)

g) the second part is a connecting sentence (it is preceded by or you can insert the word this is):

Screaming stones state -
Armenia, Armenia!
Hoarse mountains calling to arms -
Armenia, Armenia!

(O.E. Mandelstam. Armenia)

17. With direct speech.

DO NOT DASH

Between subject and predicate, expressed nouns, if:

1. Before the predicate there is a negation, an introductory word, an adverb, a union, a particle:

I really regret that my husband is not a doctor. ( A.P. Chekhov. Name day)

One more question: how do you feel about the fact that the moon is also the work of the mind? ( V.M. Shukshin. cut off)

Compare with a pause:

Styopa was well known in the theater circles of Moscow, and everyone knew that this man was not a gift. ( M.A. Bulgakov. The Master and Margarita)

That is how they begin to understand.
And in the noise of a running turbine
It seems that a mother is not a mother,
that you are not you, that the house is a foreign land.

(B.L. Parsnip. That's how they start.)

2. The predicate is preceded by a minor member of the sentence related to it:

[Trofimov:] All Russia is our garden.

(A.P. Chekhov. The Cherry Orchard)

Compare with a pause: Mr. G-v serves, and Mr. Shatov is a former student. ( F.M. Dostoevsky. Demons)

Silencing the whisper of inspired superstitions, common sense tells us that life is just a gap of faint light between two perfectly black eternities. ( V.V. Nabokov. other shores)

3. Nominal compound predicate precedes the subject:

What a glorious place this valley is!

(M.Yu. Lermontov. Hero of our time)

4. The subject in combination with the predicate is phraseological turn:

“Another's soul is dark,” Bunin answers and adds: “No, my own is much darker.”

(I.A. Ilyin. Creativity I.A. Bunin)

5. The subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, and the predicate is expressed by a noun in the nominative case:

Yes, Lewis is a type. Of course, he is a bore, but his vocabulary is gigantic. ( J. D. Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye)

6. In sentences conversational style:

What hair! Nonsense hair! This is what I'm saying! It's even better if it starts to fight, I'm not afraid of that. ( F.M. Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)

1. When “meeting” a comma and a dash inside a sentence, a comma is first placed, and then a dash: The history of discoveries, inventions, the history of technology that makes life and work easier for people - this is, in fact, the history of culture (M. G.); It’s not water splashing, you can’t fool me, it’s his long oars (L.).

In most cases, each of these punctuation marks is placed on its own basis:

Alas! My box, a checker with a silver frame, a Dagestan dagger, a gift from a friend - everything disappeared (L.) - a comma closes standalone application, a dash is placed before the generalizing word after the enumeration of the homogeneous members of the sentence;

His gait was careless and lazy, but I noticed that he did not wave his arms - the first sign of a certain secrecy of character (L.) - a comma closes the subordinate clause of a complex sentence, a dash is placed before a kind of appendix to the preceding words, has an additive connotation;

I answered that the flies bother me, - and we both fell silent (L.) - the comma closes the subordinate part, the dash is placed before the part of the sentence expressing the consequence.

2. The need for a dash as an additional punctuation mark is determined by the context. Wed:

All sorts of objects were laid out on the table: books, writing materials, geographic Maps, a box whose purpose no one knew - the subordinate clause of a complex sentence refers to the last homogeneous member and is thus included in the enumeration, and therefore no additional punctuation mark is required;

All sorts of objects were laid out on the table: books, writing materials, geographical maps - which the owner, apparently, had not used for a long time - a dash is necessary to show that the subordinate clause refers to all homogeneous members, more precisely, to a generalizing word.

3. On the setting of a comma and a dash as a single punctuation mark in a complex sentence, see § 40, in a non-union complex sentence - § 46, in the period - section 13. See also: § 25, paragraph 10; § 26; § 32, approx. 1; § 43 para. 3; § 45 para. 9; § 49, § 50, § 51.

Dash punctuation rules

1. A dash is placed for the intonational separation of the main part of a complex sentence from the subordinate clause. Most often, a dash is used in cases where the main part is preceded by:

1) subordinate explanatory: How he got here - he really could not understand this (G.); As the teacher said, I listened at the window for a long time (Pl.); Of course, it’s good that he marries her, but how they will live - who knows (M. G.); Why he tormented her - she never asked; He will come, but when - I don’t know (cf. with a different order of parts: I don’t know when he will come); They left, but they did not say where; But in order to admit his guilt in front of everyone - the spirit is not enough; Whether she answered his letter or not, he never knew; That he is a man of knowledge is a fact; There were some new rumors about him, but what is unknown; Whoever does not love art is either callous in soul, or deaf to all that is beautiful; How to be in such cases - radio listeners ask;

2) conditional clause (usually with unions whether ... whether, whether ... or): If someone asks about something - be silent (P.); Whether the head thinks, whether the heart feels, or hands overturn glasses - everything is covered with equal splashes (G.); If I look into the distance, if I look at you - and some kind of light will light up in my heart (Fet); Whether Judas was aware that it was a stone and not bread, or was not aware, is a moot point (S.-Shch.);

3) subordinate concessive: Let them tyrannize as they want, even if they take the skin off the living - I will not give up my will (S.‑Shch.); No matter how much you look at the sea, you will never get tired of it (Cat.).

2. Conditions favorable for setting a dash:

1) the parallelism of the structure of a complex sentence: Whether the plowman sings a song far away - a long song takes by the heart; Will the forest begin - pine and aspen (N.); Whoever is cheerful - he laughs, whoever wants - he will achieve, who is looking for - he will always find! (OK.); If someone comes, I rejoice, if no one looks in, I don’t grieve either; What was - is known, what will be - no one knows;

2) an incomplete sentence in the subordinate part: Some ask why there was a delay in resolving the issue, others - why it arose at all, others - why other issues are not considered along the way; He is a good person, but it's a pity - a drunkard; I answered something that - I myself do not remember;

3) the presence of words is, here. That she is an honest nature is clear to me (T.); When a fly obtrusively curls in front of your eyes, it is unpleasant, but when a mosquito trumpets tirelessly over your ear at night, it is simply unbearable; What is remarkable about this forest is that it is all pine; Where is he now, what is he doing - these are the questions to which I could not get answers; And that he was clever - you can believe me; What he found in her is his business;

4) enumeration of subordinate parts: If you are not sure of yourself, if you do not have enough courage - refuse; There are people around, and who came for what, who has what business - it is not clear; And what was going on in this chaos of things, how he understood it - is incomprehensible to the mind; He, in order to show that he knows all this and agrees with everything, that he is far from any doubts, immediately offered his services;

5) an abundance of commas, against which the dash acts as a more expressive sign: But we have gained experience, and for experience, as they say, no matter how much you pay, you will not overpay;

6) intonational separation of the main part from the subordinate clause following it: You ask - why did I go for it ?; Are you sure - is it necessary?;

7) the absence of an opposing union or the second part of a comparative union between subordinate clauses: Artistry consists in ensuring that each word is not only in place - that it is necessary, inevitable and that there are as few words as possible (Chern.).

Every writer has their own "favorite" punctuation rules. But from the experience of working at preparatory courses and the preparatory department of Moscow State University, the author of this article knows that the use of a dash is one of the most complex and, so to speak, erroneous punctuation rules. It seems to us that this is due to the erroneous ideas of the majority of schoolchildren about the optionality of the dash, its almost complete identity with the comma. Having memorized, as a rule, some of the rules most well set out in school textbooks and manuals for university applicants (for example, a dash between the subject and predicate, expressed nouns; a dash between parts of a complex sentence), not all students are able to generalize in their minds the cases of the possible use of a dash In russian language. Textbooks rarely offer consolidated chapters on this issue, the tradition of compiling reference and teaching aids is by groups of rules, and not by signs. Meanwhile, the current “Rules of Russian Spelling and Punctuation” (M .: Uchpedgiz, 1956) offer exactly the first way, in the “Punctuation” section, the principles for setting certain punctuation marks, including dashes, are set out (This work, paragraphs 164-179, p. 98-104).

This article aims to draw attention to most cases of setting a dash in a letter (we deliberately do not touch on those cases that are rarely used by most writers and, first of all, by schoolchildren), after all sections, exercises will be given to check the learned material.

The first thing to remember is that there are two different types of dashes. A single dash is a character from the separating group (For more information about separating and highlighting characters, see: Russian language. Tutorial for in-depth study in high school. Part 2. Morphology. Syntax. Punctuation. / Bagryantseva V.A., Bolycheva E.M., Galaktionova I.V., Zhdanova L.A., Litnevskaya E.I. - M., Moscow State University, 2000., p. 180). Such a dash is used as a sign dividing a sentence into two parts (for example, a dash can be placed between the subject and the predicate in a simple sentence or between two parts of a complex one), or as a punctuation mark, similar in function to a comma, but adding an additional semantic connotation to the sentence . A separating dash in a simple sentence, in addition, is used with homogeneous members with a generalizing word. Along with this, in the rules related to the isolation of sentence members and introductory words, a double dash is used as a highlighting sign, which is in many ways similar to two commas.

Consider these groups of rules and determine what difficulties are encountered in their application. The most common mistakes will be analyzed in detail, and it is for these cases that practical tasks will be offered.

1. DASH BETWEEN SUBJECT AND VERB

The need to put a dash between the subject and the predicate is associated with the omission of the auxiliary part in the compound types of the predicate. In some cases, the setting of a dash is associated only with the form of the main terms, in others there are additional formal reasons indicating the need to put a dash. The rules below deal with the dash rules themselves and their exceptions.

The subject is expressed by a noun, the predicate is a compound nominal with a zero connective and a nominal part, expressed by a noun(that is, both main terms are expressed by nouns): Snow White is the main character of the famous children's fairy tale and the beautiful cartoon by Walt Disney Studios. (All examples in the article are invented by the author. In cases where the fantasy left the author, examples from the literature were used. References will be given to all these cases). Particular attention should be paid to the following cases of dash priority setting:

If the sentence has the character of a logical definition - A fairy tale is a genre of folklore in which magical characters act and magical events occur.

If the proposal refers to the book style and contains a characteristic, the assessment of the phenomenon - Animation - is the best achievement of the 20th century.

In sentences, identities (subject and predicate express one concept) - Everyone knows that in any fairy tale stepmother is also an evil witch.

After a group of homogeneous subjects - Grumpy, Kind, Modest, Quiet - the names of Snow White's closest friends.

With a structural parallelism of parts - Love for work is the dignity of Snow White, narcissism is a trait of her stepmother.
To clarify the meaning of the sentence - Big sister is her best friend. Her older sister is her stepmother's best friend.

Both main terms are expressed by infinitives, or one is expressed by a noun and the other by an infinitive: Dreaming of meeting a prince for any girl is only torturing yourself in vain. To meet him in fact is a great happiness.

Before the words this, this is, it means, this means, here. - Looking in the mirror, the stepmother said: "Yes, beauty is a terrible force."

Both main members are numerals, or one is a numeral and the other is a noun: Counting all the socks lying on the floor and putting them in pairs, Snow White guessed that the number of gnomes was seven.

AS A RULE, A DASH IS PUT:

The subject is expressed by the infinitive, the predicate is a compound nominal with a zero connective and a nominal part expressed by an adverb with the meaning of the state, but only if there is a pause between the main members: Snow White understood from childhood that it was dangerous not to fulfill her duties of cleaning the palace, because every day her stepmother checked the cleanliness of the rooms.

With the subject expressed by the word THIS, if there is a logical pause after this word - This is the very beginning of the story, and the continuation will be later. (Compare: This is not a bad start.)

Before the dash in all the cases discussed above, according to the conditions of the context, there may be a comma. This is possible if there is a dash before the insertion point. isolated member suggestions or subordinate clause. In this case, the writer puts two unrelated signs: a comma that closes one revolution, and a dash between the subject and the predicate.

The most common writing mistake is not putting a comma before the dash. It is on attentiveness to this problem that we propose the task given below.

Task 1. Put punctuation marks. In cases where there is a comma before the dash, explain its setting. (The task used examples from the essays of students of the preparatory courses of the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University).

1. Eugene Onegin is the protagonist of the novel of the same name by A.S. Pushkin, a nobleman by birth and an “extra” person by character.

2. Vladimir Lensky, a romantic and a dreamer who lived for several years in "Germany foggy" and is unable to distinguish between real and fictional life.

3. Ilya Ilyich Oblomov, who spent his childhood in an atmosphere of universal love and worship, is a typical gentleman in manners and constantly expects from those around him the same attitude towards himself that he used to receive from his relatives in childhood.

4. This poem, written in the genre of a friendly message, is the brightest creation of Pushkin the romantic.

5. Romanticism, which in Russian literature is closely associated with the names of Pushkin and Lermontov, is one of literary trends studying inner world and the psychology of the characters.

THE DASH IS USUALLY NOT SET:

The subject is expressed by a noun, the predicate is a compound nominal with a zero connective and a nominal part expressed by a noun, and at the same time:

The sentence is simple, conversational style: "My father is the king," Snow White modestly answered the question of the dwarfs.

Between the subject and the predicate there are comparative conjunctions AS, AS if, EXACTLY, LIKE AS, EVERYTHING IS THE SAME THAT: “Snow White’s eyes are like two bright stars, her skin is like the first snow, her hair is like night,” the mirror impassively explained to the enraged queen.

The predicate is preceded by the negation of NOT: “The Queen is no longer the first beauty of the kingdom,” the courtiers whispered among themselves.

Between the subject and the predicate there is an introductory word or particle: The King is probably a good person, but he has become a toy in the hands of an evil and treacherous wife. The walk is just an excuse to take Snow White into the dense forest and leave her there.

The predicate is preceded by a secondary term related to it: “Snow White is our friend!” - the dwarfs assured Grumpy, but he stubbornly did not want to come to terms with the presence of a woman in the house.

In the sentence, the word order is reversed - the predicate precedes the subject: “This glorious little prince!” - such was the unanimous opinion of the gnomes and forest animals.

Important: in many of the cases listed above, a dash is possible if it is necessary to emphasize intonation the division of a sentence into two parts or to highlight one of the main members.

The subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, the predicate is a compound nominal with a zero connective and a nominal part expressed by a noun: All the inhabitants of the kingdom knew that Snow White was very good girl, she is smart, she is beautiful, she is very kind and attentive.

With the logical underlining of the pronoun-subject, its highlighting with intonation: “I am the first beauty of the kingdom,” the queen proudly declared to each new guest.

When contrasting personal pronouns-subjects in identically constructed parts of the sentence: “I am the queen, and you are the servant,” said the evil stepmother and ordered her servant to take Snow White into the forest and kill her.

One of the main members is expressed by an interrogative pronoun, the other by a noun in the nominative case or a personal pronoun: “Tell us, girl, who are you, who are your parents and why did you wander into such a thicket alone?” the dwarfs asked Snow White in surprise.

The predicate is expressed by an adjective, a pronominal adjective or a prepositional case form: The forest around Snow White is empty and gloomy, the sun is not visible behind the treetops, bird voices are not heard.

In this case, you can put a dash:

With the logical division of the sentence into two parts and its intonation division: Snow White's voice is pure, clear, bewitching, so the prince decided to see who sings so tenderly.

With the structural parallelism of parts of a complex sentence: The night is warm, the stars are shining, the moon is round, so Snow White did not feel fear, left alone in the forest.

Not having your own home is terribly disappointing. Loneliness is even more offensive, especially when you are a lover of chatting and gossip and there is no one to gossip with. All these thoughts ran through the head of the mouse, which walked sadly across the field and was looking for a lodging for the night. Suddenly the mouse stopped(:,-) “What is this ahead of you?” And this is a teremok. Teremok standing in the field and hidden in the thickets of wild flowers is an ideal haven for a lonely little animal. And what a handsome man he is! The steps are carved, the shutters are painted, the roof is like a tent, the rooms are large, the windows are to the east. To live in such even one is already happiness.

The mouse is located in the teremka. And to dream also about a neighbor in the tower only to upset yourself in vain. Her task is to make the teremok even more cozy home, and there come what may.

But this is just the beginning of the tale. The next day a frog ran past. Boredom is a terrible misfortune for any animal, and the frog was desperately bored in his swamp where to live means to eat sleep and croak. And the frog wanted to communicate! So she left the swamp and came to the tower and knocked.

“Please tell me who you are and why you have come?” asked a frightened mouse from behind the door. “I am a frog, but who are you?” said the no less frightened frog. “I am the mistress of this house, a mouse, and the frog seems to be an animal that lives in the water,” the norushka calmed down a little. “Mice are not a decree for us frogs,” the frog proudly remarked, and then said (:,-) “I am alone and you are alone, let's live together!”. “A glorious animal frog,” thought the mouse, and let in an unexpected neighbor.

2. DASH IN INCOMPLETE SENTENCE.

An incomplete sentence is called “with lexically unexpressed members that are easily restored in meaning from the context” (Russian language: Textbook for in-depth study in high school. Part 2. Morphology. Syntax. Punctuation. / Bagryantseva V.A., Bolycheva E. .M., Galaktionova I.V., Zhdanova L.A., Litnevskaya E.I. - M., Moscow State University, 2000 - P. 132). Incompleteness is often due to the omission of the predicate, and this omission is associated either with the name of the predicate earlier in the context, or with the special structure of the sentence, when the predicate is not needed (such a sentence is called elliptical). It is this omission of the predicate in writing that is indicated by the setting of a dash.

If there is a pause in elliptical sentences (instead of a predicate) - Outside the window - rain.

With parallelism of structures - Everything on this side is mine, and on the other side is also mine, and the forest is mine, and beyond the forest is mine (a free presentation of Nozdrev's famous words).

In sentences of a special structure that have two nouns in the stem (one in the form dative case, other in the form accusative), clearly divided into two parts - “Idiot! Baba - flowers, children - ice cream! - shouts the hero Papanova in the film "The Diamond Hand".
If an incomplete sentence is part of a complex one, and the missing term is easily recovered from the context - Some Americans voted for Bush, others for Gore, but in the end it didn't matter.

3. A DASH IN A SIMPLE SENTENCE WITH HOMOGENEOUS TERMS.

A dash can be used between two homogeneous members of a sentence when they are contrasted or when indicating suddenness (in the latter case, verbs-predicates will be homogeneous members): Snow White wanted not to cry - to sob with fear, but she restrained herself and carefully walked through the forest. The prince saw Snow White and immediately fell in love with her.

A dash is used between two homogeneous members connected by a double union, when skipping the second part of the union: the Queen not only did not love, she simply hated the beautiful Snow White. It was not that she humiliated the princess - she tormented and scolded her in every possible way.

If there is a generalizing word after a group of homogeneous members of the sentence, a dash is placed in front of it: On the table, on the windowsill, on the floor, under the beds - things belonging to the gnomes were scattered everywhere.

With the same order of homogeneous terms and a generalizing word, an introductory word may also appear before the generalizing one. In this case, there is a dash before the introductory word, and after (before the generalizing word) there is a comma: And deer, and squirrels, and hares, and various birds - in a word, all forest animals came to visit Snow White during the day when the gnomes left to work.

If the generalizing word is before a group of homogeneous members, but after the group homogeneous offer does not end, then a dash is put after this group: All the dwarfs: the Kind, the Quiet, the Modest, the Simpleton, and even the Grumpy - fell in love with Princess Snow White very much and begged her to stay with them.

A dash can be put instead of a colon after a generalizing word before a group of homogeneous members, if homogeneous members have the character of an application or clarification: Everyone loves fairy tales - both adults and children.

Before the dash in the last three cases, according to the conditions of the context, there may be a comma. This is possible if there is a separate member of the sentence or a subordinate clause before the place of the dash. In this case, the writer puts two unrelated signs: a comma that closes one revolution, and a dash between the subject and the predicate.

In addition, for paragraph 4 it is very important to distinguish between cases where a group of homogeneous members after a generalizing word breaks a simple sentence, and cases when we have a complex sentence, the first part of which ends with a group of homogeneous members. In this case, after the end of the specified group, there will be a comma (or a colon, or a semicolon), and if necessary, to put a dash between the parts, we will additionally have to put a comma. But this will be discussed below, in the section on dashes in a complex sentence, and now we offer training on the groups of rules we have just considered.

The mouse and the frog, not that they became friends, somehow got used to each other during the two days spent together. They put things in order everywhere: both in the rooms and in the yard and in the basement of the teremok and decorated the entire teremok with flower arrangements. For two days, new girlfriends talked about everything about life and friends and about the most secret and intimate dreams.

On the third day living together rain outside the window. You look out the window and you don’t even see cornflowers growing near the tower. Friends sit in a warm kitchen and drink tea. Suddenly there is a knock outside the window. And standing in the yard is not only a hare, soaked to the skin, somehow shrinking from the cold. The “girls” let him into the teremok and gave him tea with honey, raspberries and cranberry jam found by the mouse in the cellar with everything that they could offer the new guest. “I am the mistress of the tower, a mouse, this is a frog, my neighbor, and who are you?” the mouse asked. “And I’m a bunny, let me in! I can not only guard the house and carpentry and hammer in a nail and kindle a fire in the stove, everything you say, I will do. The mouse and the frog were not just happy, they jumped for joy. And so they began to live together.

3. Dash between sentence members

Punctuation

Dash between subject and verb

Between the subject and the nominal predicate in place of the missing link put a dash, if the subject and predicate are expressed by nouns in the form of the nominative case: The wing near the house on Sadovaya, designed by Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel, is the only building from the Mamontovs' possessions that has almost retained its appearance to this day.(Kis); Pushkin region - the land of stones(Geych.); This portrait is the only pictorial representation of the daughter of Anna Petrovna Kern(Geych.); …My ability to keep the past to myself is an inherited trait(Nab.); And the woman leaning over the fence is your second cousin aunt(Shcherb.).

A dash is put before the predicate, attached to the subject by words here it is: "Respect for the past - here's the line that distinguishes education from savagery,” Pushkin once said(rasp.); Pushkinogorie - it is not only a monument historical and literary, this is and peculiar botanical and zoological garden , a wonderful monument of nature(Geych.). As a link, a combination is also possible it is: hypotenuse - it is a side right triangle opposite right angle (from the textbook).

A dash is put when expressing both the subject and the predicate (or only the subject, or only the predicate) by the infinitive: In this city know three languages ​​is an unnecessary luxury(Ch.); Nothing compares to the feeling hear them[rooks] for the first time since six months of winter death!(Boon.). The presence of negation does not remove the sign: Tea drink - not firewood chop (last); Life live - not field go (last). The same if the predicate contains words means, it means: Wait for permission - means lose time(gas.); Leave the institute now - it means lose everything(gas.); And to understand a person - means already sympathize with him(Shuksh.).

A dash is put between the subject and the predicate, if they are expressed by numerals (or a phrase with a numeral), and also if one of the main members of the sentence is expressed by the numeral: So nine forty - three hundred sixty , So?(pis); Depth there from the boat - four primaries , that is, six meters(Shol.).

In the case of using a particle not before a predicate-numeral (cf. the same when expressing a predicate with a noun, § 15, p. 3), a dash is not put: A man can, for example, say that twice two not four but five or three and a half; and the woman will say that twice two is a stearin candle(T.).

A dash is put with a predicate expressed by a phraseological phrase: Pie - real jam ; His talent is God bless everyone ; Mother shed tears of joy, and father - whatever! (Cool.); Hut - so-so , barn(Shuksh.); Yefim himself - don't put your finger in your mouth (Shuksh.); And Victor - neither father nor mother (Cool.); Night - gouge out your eye! (A. Color.).

The presence of the particle not, as well as introductory words with stable combinations as a predicate, prevents the setting of a dash (but does not prohibit): This officer not like you , mister gendarme(Fed.); He is a scientist with us, and he plays the violin, and cuts out various things, in a word, jack of all trades (Ch.).

Dash between subject and nominal predicate not put:

1. If the subject is expressed by a personal or demonstrative pronoun: She his daughter. He wants to understand her(Shcherb.); it cabinet? it bedroom?(Ch.)

2. If one of the main members is expressed by an interrogative pronoun, and the other by a noun or personal pronoun: Who your protector? What is study? Who she?

3. If there is a negation with the predicate-noun: Scenery not a appendage to prose and not decoration (Paust.); Russia not Petersburg she is huge(Shv.); Old age not joy (last). However, when contrasted, the predicate with negation requires a dash (not ... but): And at the same time he noticed that he was not a master in his house, but only an integral part of it.(M. G.) (cf. without opposition: He is not master in his house).

4. If the predicate is expressed by an adjective or participle: And your room so good for a child(Ch.); I have a lot of good people, almost all good (Sim.); He had two wounds. Wounds easy but the man lost a lot of blood(Paust.); log cabin pink, peeling, country-style small, covered with a green iron roof (Kav.); harsh autumn sad late view(Ill.); At the dining feast hot and ardent (Ill.).

However, with a predicate-adjective, a dash is placed with a structural parallelism of parts of a sentence, accompanied in oral speech by intonational emphasis (stress) of both members of the sentence: Everything in her appearance attracted attention: sight - spicy , hairstyle - boyish , clothes - modern, fashionable ; cf. with emphasis on only the predicate: Weather unbearable , road bad , coachman stubborn , the horses are not driven, but the caretaker is to blame(P.). A dash is also possible in the presence of several (homogeneous) predicates: Her son is yellow, long and glasses (M. G.).

5. If the predicate is expressed by a turnover with comparative particles like, like, that, exactly, sort of like and etc.: Life like a legend ; Sky like an open tent ; Brooch looks like a bee (Ch.); Forest like a fairy tale ; A week that one day . Passes quickly; Pond like shiny steel (Fet). A dash is not put and when introducing a predicate that lexically matches the subject: Ice like ice, desert like deserts (Kav.); Village like a village ; small house like a house - old, dark(Shuksh.).

6. If between the subject and the predicate-noun there is an introductory word, circumstance or addition, as well as a conjunction or particle: Rook, certainly , the bird is smart and independent, but it has no voice(Paust.); My father for me friend and mentor; Moscow now port of five seas; My brother too engineer; This stream only beginning of the river.

Dash in an incomplete sentence

In incomplete sentences in place of the missing members of the sentence or their parts put a dash.

1. In parts of a complex sentence with a parallel structure, as well as in a simple sentence with homogeneous repeating members of the sentence, where the missing member is restored from the first part of the sentence: It was getting dark, and the clouds either dispersed, or now came in from three sides: on the left - almost black, with blue gaps, on the right - gray-haired, rumbling with a continuous roar, and from the west, because of the Khvoshchinsky estate, because of the slopes above the river valley , - cloudy blue, in dusty stripes of rain(Boon.); For him, one story inevitably evokes another, and that one - a third, a third - a fourth, and therefore there is no end to his stories.(Paust.); Some consider the portrait to be the work of Van Dyck, others - Rembrandt(Paust.); This is how she lives alone. During the day he walks in the garden, at night he walks around the house(Shcherb.).

2. In a simple sentence with a missing predicate indicating the direction of movement: Tatyana - into the forest, the bear - after her(P.).

3. If the missing sentence member is restored from previous sentences:- Do you like green onion pies? I am passion!(M. G.); In another room, the workshop of an artisan jeweler is recreated. In the third - the shepherd's hut, with all the shepherd's utensils. In the fourth - an ordinary water mill. In the fifth - the setting of the hut where the shepherds make cheese(Sol.).

A dash is put in sentences consisting of two components with the meaning of the subject, object, circumstance (in various combinations) and built according to the schemes: "who - to whom", "who - where", "what - to whom", "what - where", "what - how", "what - where", "what - for what" and etc.: Teachers - to schoolchildren; Journalists - in hot spots; Literary awards - to veterans; Textbooks - for children; All wells are in operation; Grades - for knowledge. The dash is preserved when the parts are rearranged: You - the key to the university.

Such sentences are common in newspaper headlines.

In self-used sentences with a missing predicate that cannot be restored from the context, 1 can be placed dash. Such sentences are divided by a pause into two components - adverbial and subject: Behind bars - a fabulous bird(Ill.); In the lanes in the village - knee-deep mud(Shuksh.); Above the yellow straw fields, above the stubble - blue sky and white clouds(Sol.); Behind the highway - a birch forest(Boon.); All over the sky are clouds(Pan.); Over the area - low hanging dust(Shol.); Behind the screen is a door leading to a staircase.(Nab.).

However, in the absence of a pause and a logical stress on the adverbial member of the sentence, the dash not put: There are traces of unknown animals on unknown paths(P.). The same when expressing the subjective circumstantial meaning: There is excitement in the public; Sadness in my heart.

Dash in join function

A dash is put between two (or more) words that, combined with each other, mean limits (meaning "from to") - spatial, temporal, quantitative: Trains with signs "Moscow - Kara-Bugaz , through Tashkent - Krasnovodsk » (Paust.); Mistakenly believing that the culture of horse chestnut in the northwestern parks is not a phenomenon XVIII-XIX centuries, and later, they removed all chestnuts from the Trigorsky and from the grave hill of the Svyatogorsky monastery(Geych.); Oil reserves at Cheleken are very small and should be exhausted in the first ten fifteen years of production(Paust.). The same with the designation of the number of numbers: Manuscript of 10-15 author's sheets(See also spellings of combinations indicating an approximate amount: Spelling, § 118, paragraph 5 and § 154, paragraph 4.)

A dash is put between two (or more) proper names, the totality of which is called any doctrine, phenomenon, etc.: law Boyle - Mariotte ; match Kasparov - Karpov .

A dash is also placed between common nouns, the combination of which performs a defining function with a noun: System man - machine ; Relationship teacher - student ; Problem market relations- social justice . The number of combined names can be more than two: Problem production - man - nature ; Article by V. A. Sukhomlinsky "Teacher - team - personality" .

Dash in selection function

A dash is put before the members of the sentence to emphasize them, emphasize them (for stylistic purposes). Such members of the sentence are called connecting.

1. A dash is put to underline, emphasize the explanatory members of the sentence located at the end of the sentence. Most often this is: This is very bad, as I should have written - for a piece of bread (Boon.); ... And again the rickshaw wandered along the street - this time to the hotel (Boon.); The next day, the seminarians again clashed with the Cadets - open, by the Summer Garden (Kav.); Throughout the spring, Nikolai met with Ovrazhny only once - by chance on the street (Shol.). Such a dash may be replaced by a dot (see § 9).

2. A dash can be placed for stylistic purposes after coordinating conjunctions or their combinations with particles: Death razul worn down bast shoes, lay down on a stone and - fell asleep(M. G.); And here is the river(Cool.); I have papers ... but - they are no good(G.).

A dash is put to emphasize the opposing members of the sentence: Terrible, sweet, inevitable, I must / I - throw myself into a foamy shaft, / You - a green-eyed naiad / Sing, splash around the Irish rocks(Bl.).

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A dash, as a rule, is used in non-union complex sentences to indicate the nature of the semantic connection between its parts. However, there are other uses of this punctuation mark.

The setting of the dash is governed by the following rules of Russian grammar:

1. A dash is placed in sentences with a compound nominal predicate, between the subjects and the predicate. In sentences of this kind, the predicate, as a rule, is a generic concept in relation to the subject. For example:

• The tiger is a predator;
• Cow - artiodactyl;
• Birch - tree;
• My older sister is a teacher;
• My older sister is my teacher.

Note 1. However, if the subject and predicate is the negative particle “not”, then the dash is not put:

• Poverty is not a vice;
• The goose is not a bird.

Note 2. A dash between the subject and the predicate is not put if they are used in an interrogative sentence, and the subject is expressed by a pronoun, for example:

• Who is your mother?

2. If the subject in the sentence is expressed by a noun , and the predicate is an indefinite form of the verb (infinitive), or they are both expressed in infinitive, then a dash is placed between them, for example:

• To love you is to wag your nerves;
• The desire of every person is to love and be loved.

3. A dash is placed before words “this”, “means”, “this is”, “here”, etc. in sentences where the predicate is expressed by a noun in the nominative case or infinitive. As a rule, these words serve to attach the predicate to the subject, and also indicate that a comparison or definition will now follow, for example:

• Desire is the need of a person in spite of all adversity to make his life better;
• Romance is moonlit walks and admiring eyes;
• Loyalty is the stronghold of true human relationships, trust is the stronghold of a strong family.

4. A dash is placed in sentences with enumerations before a generalizing word. For example:

• Dreams, hopes, beauty - everything will be swallowed up by the inexorable course of time;
• Neither her tears, nor her pleading eyes, nor sadness - nothing could make him come back.

5. A dash is placed before the application at the end of the sentence in two cases:

a) If it is possible to put the construction “namely” before the application without distorting the meaning of the sentence, for example:

• I don't like this animal too much - a cat.
• In conversation, he demanded one thing - correctness.
• I obey only one person - my father.

b) If explanatory words are used in the application, and the author needs to additionally indicate the independence of this construction, for example:

• I had a cast-iron teapot with me - my only consolation in traveling around the Caucasus (Lermontov).

6. A dash is placed between two predicates or between parts of a complex sentence if the author needs to unexpectedly attach or sharply oppose them in relation to each other. For example:

• I went into the room, not thinking of seeing anyone there, and froze.
• I'm more likely to Petka - and that's all there.
• I wanted to travel around the whole world - and did not travel around the hundredth part (Griboedov).
• I wanted to sit down to sew - and the needle pricked my fingers, I wanted to cook porridge - the milk ran away.

Note 1. In order to enhance the shade of surprise, a dash can also be placed after coordinating conjunctions that link parts of one sentence. For example:

• Make out vacation - and go to the family.
• I really want to go there to meet them, but I'm afraid (M. Gorky)

Note 2: In addition, for even more surprise, a dash can separate any part of a sentence, for example:

• And she ate the poor singer - to the crumbs (Krylov).
• And the grandfather threw the ruff into the river.

According to the rules of the Russian language, there is no need to put a dash in these sentences. However, it is put only in order to better convey the meaning and reflect what really happened.

7. A dash is placed between the parts of a non-union complex sentence if the second part contains the result or conclusion from what was said in the first, for example:

• Praises are tempting - how not to wish for them? (Krylov).
• The moon has drawn a path across the sea - the night has laid a light veil.

8. A dash is placed between the parts of a non-union complex sentence if between them there is a type of connection "subordinate part - main part":

• Gruzdev called himself get in the body.
• They cut the forest - the chips fly.

9. A dash is placed in order to indicate the boundary of the breakdown of a simple sentence into two verbal groups. This is done only if it is impossible to isolate this decay by other means. For example:

• So I say: do the guys need it?

Very often, such a decay is observed when one of the members of the sentence is omitted, for example:

• Marinka for a good study - a ticket to the sea, and Egorka - a new computer.
• I will - into a fist, my heart - from my chest, and I rushed after him.
• Everything is obedient to me, but I am nothing (Pushkin).

10. In addition, with the help of a dash, they distinguish:

a) Sentences and words used in the middle of a sentence and serving to explain what was said, but only if the brackets can weaken the connection between the insert and the one being explained, for example:

• Here - there is nothing to do - I got into his cart and sat down.
• How suddenly - a miracle! oh shame! - the oracle spoke nonsense (Krylov).
• And only once - and then by accident - I spoke to him.

b) A common application if it comes after the noun it defines and needs to emphasize its own independence, for example:

• The senior sergeant - a gallant aged Cossack with stripes for extra-long service - ordered to "build up" (Sholokhov).
• In front of the doors of the club - a wide log house - workers with banners (Fedin) were waiting for the guests.

c) Homogeneous members of the sentence, if they are in the middle of the sentence and need special emphasis, for example:

• Usually, from the riding villages - Elanskaya, Vyoshenskaya, Migulinskaya and Kazanskaya - they took Cossacks to the 11-12th army Cossack regiments and to the Life Guards Atamansky (Sholokhov).
• And again, the same picture - crooked houses, road potholes and dirty puddles - opened up to my eyes.

11. A dash can be used as an additional punctuation mark after a comma in sentences where there are two repeated words. , and this repetition is necessary in order to connect one part of this sentence with another. For example:

• I knew very well that it was my husband, not some new, unknown person, but a good person, my husband, whom I knew as myself (L. Tolstoy).
• Now, as an investigator, Ivan Ilyich felt that without exception, the most important, self-satisfied people, everything was in his hands (L. Tolstoy).

12. A dash is placed after a group of subordinate clauses before the main part of a complex sentence in order to emphasize the split into two semantic parts. For example:

• Whether it was worth it or not is not for me to decide.
• Whether Stoltz did anything for this, what he did and how he did it, we do not know (Dobrolyubov).

13. A dash is placed in paired constructions, meaning any temporal, spatial or quantitative framework , and in this case it is synonymous with a pair of prepositions "from ... to", for example:

• Flight Novosibirsk - Moscow,
• 1991 – 2001,
• Ten to twelve grams.

14. A dash is placed between two proper names if collectively they name any teaching or discovery:

• Boyle's physical law - Mariotte.

The correct use of hyphens and dashes often creates confusion among writers, typesetters, and printers. This question, sooner or later, concerns every person - we write and read, and the incorrect use of these punctuation marks makes the text ugly and distorts the semantic load embedded in it. The answer to the question of what a hyphen and a dash are, the difference in their spelling and the visual difference between the signs will help everyone to use the unique Russian language more competently.

Hyphen: em dash

Hyphen function - dividing a word into parts. Graphically, this orthographic sign is approximately 3 times shorter than a dash.

How to use a hyphen in the Russian language correctly will help voluminous and full of exceptions, the rules that come down to enumeration of many special cases:

Other uses of the hyphen:

• Writing parts of a word in linguistic texts. For example: prefix at-, ending - ut.
• Designation of important parts or syllables of a word: at-lo-same-e.
• In fictional stories, the importance of the word spoken by the hero is indicated: “ Attention, once again I say pay attention ...».

When is a dash in a sentence?

The use of a dash in sentences, as well as a hyphen, has its own punctuation rules. Along with the use of a comma in the text, which is often mistakenly placed in the wrong places, dash application has the following features:

Between subject and predicate.	The expression of the present and the predicate in the nominative case: Dog is man's best friend.
	The subject is in the nominative case, and the predicate is expressed in indefinite form:Life to live is not a field to run across.
Before particles or a generalizing word.	Particles this is, here etc.: Hardness is the best quality of this material.
	Before generalizing words: Thoughtfulness, attentiveness and diligence are the best qualities of a student.
Designation of quantitative limits.	Time limit: Cook over low heat for 20 - 25 minutes.
	Spatial limit: Flight Moscow - Tula.

The table above describes the cases that most common when using a dash in Russian.

This sign is also used:

• After conjunctions, to express surprise: Went to bed and fell asleep instantly.
• Between homogeneous members: Who is well done - I am well done!
• Notation of direct speech dialogues : - Yes, I agree with you, - said Lenin.

How to put a hyphen in Word?

Almost all users working with the operating Windows system, for typing use text editors Word or OpenOffice.

Consider how to put a hyphen in the text in the first option:

• hypsominus. There is only one symbol on the keyboard, which means "dash". It is located above the letters "Z" and "X", to the right of the number "0". Many do not understand its true meaning and often put this sign as a minus, dash, hyphen, hyphen. In fact, this symbol, by its size, is below the minus and hyphen. How is it usually used? For a dash put two - three hypsominus contract. Ugly, but if there is no technical possibility - it will do.
• Non-breaking hyphen. We found out that for the designation in document hyphen use symbol defosominus(-) or, as the people say, the minus sign. But there is an easy way that few people know about - using special keys to create a non-breaking hyphen (dash). What do I need to do? Press combination Ctrl+minus. Please note: the keyboard layout must be in English and the minus sign is pressed on the numeric keypad on the right.

How to put a dash in Word?

Anyone who believes that with the help of a dash, minus and hyphen you can solve all the problems of punctuation in Word - they are very mistaken. But more on that below. Now let's talk about the dash and how it can be put in the Word.

There are two types of dashes:

1. Em dash - used in Russian typography.
2. En dash - also called "medium", used in Western typography.

Likewise, there are three ways (the third is the easiest) to insert dashes into text:

• Inserting a dash with a character rate.

1. Set the cursor to the place where you want to put a dash:
2. Selecting a menu item Tab. In the tab we are looking for an inscription Symbol.
3. In the window that appears, select the button Other symbols, look for an em dash and click Insert.

• Inserting a dash through special key combinations:

1. Em dash. Press the ALT key and type in the numeric keypad Numpad on the right 0151 and release Alt.
2. En dash. Similarly to the previous paragraph, we type ALT + 0150. In both cases, the keyboard layout must be set to English.

• Automatic software insert, enabled by default in all versions:

1. We write a word.
2. We press the spacebar.
3. Put a minus sign (en dash)
4. Press the spacebar again.
5. We write the next word.
6. We press the key again and after that the dash turns into a hyphen.

Practice: En dash or em dash

What's in practice? The reality is that about 95% of users use the short (Western) version as a dash. It is connected with two features:

1. Appearance. The domestic version seems to many to be very long and constantly catches the eye.
2. Automatic replacement. The combination of special keys is good. But not everyone knows about them, and who knows - the introduction of symbols is long and thankless. On the other hand, after the user enters a hyphen, make a space and write the following words: the character is automatically replaced by an em dash.

9 types of horizontal lines

Consider all the horizontal lines that exist in the printing house, from the shortest hypsominus to the longest horizontal line.

1. hypsominus. The shortest, used as a hyphen or minus.
2. Hyphen. To separate words into parts.
3. Minus. in mathematical terms.
4. digital dash. For example, to record a phone number.
5. Transfer. Word wrap to the next line.
6. List marker. Used in unordered lists.
7. En dash. The dash standard used throughout the world.
8. Em dash. Russian standard dash.
9. horizontal bar. Analogue of the em dash, which is used in the west in dialogue.

Now, while typing complex text or when designing a holiday card, no one should have difficulty using symbols such as hyphens and dashes. The difference is obvious: a hyphen acts as a spelling mark and is placed in the middle of a phrase, a dash is a punctual mark that is placed between words.

Video lesson: how to distinguish a hyphen from a dash?

In this video, Eduard Krasnov will conduct a short educational program, teach you to distinguish a hyphen from a dash: