Russian lessons: when to put a comma before the "how"

Often, the comma before the conjunction "how" is lost or, conversely, placed where it is not needed. Experts say that this punctuation rule is one of the most difficult in the Russian language. Most often, confusion arises with comparative turns. About when a comma is placed and when not, how to distinguish a comparison with "how" from a circumstance of a course of action with "how" — in the Izvestia material.

When to put a comma before the "how"

At comparative speeds

A comma is placed if the comparative turnover begins with the conjunction "as" and turnover means assimilation to something. According to Oleg Boitsov, PhD in Philology, an expert at the Infowork educational marketplace, sentences with this case most often have a subject and a predicate.

She blinded my life like the sun.

The guide's story is like a lullaby.

With introductory phrases and stable combinations

The combinations "as a rule", "as an exception", "as a consequence", "as always", "as now", "as on purpose", "as for example", "as now" are always separated by commas if they are not part of the predicate.

As always, she was the last to arrive.

I remember his smile now.

The conjunction "how" combines two simple sentences into a complex one.

In a sentence with several grammatical bases that are connected by the union "how", you need to put a comma before "how".

She heard birds chirping.

The teacher saw Kolya copying his homework.

If the main part of the sentence contains the index words "so", "such", "that", "so"

He did everything as promised.

The boy was not like the others.

In sentences with the phrases "none other than" and "none other than"

It was none other than Santa Claus who came to us.

In France, he ate nothing but a snail.

Before the turn starting with the combination "as and"

Masha, like Lisa, got an A.

Danil, as usual, skipped school.

Author's arrangement of commas

— There is also author's punctuation in literary texts: a writer can deliberately mark a turn with commas for expressiveness, which is additionally confusing, — Larisa Mikallef, Candidate of Philology, associate professor of the Department of Foreign Languages and Intercultural Communication at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, tells Izvestia.

Russian lessons: how to spell "also"

We find out when we write together and when we write separately.

When the comma before the "how" is not needed

If "how" is a circumstance of the course of action

The circumstance of the course of action can be determined by asking the question "how?".

She looks like a teacher.

The skirt shone like a starry sky.

If the turnover with "as" is equal in value to the combination of "as"

Do not use a comma if the turnover can be replaced with a combination of "as".

He has always been remembered as the best director.

I knew him as a good musician.

— The most difficult case of putting a comma or its absence before the conjunction "as" is related to the non-distinction of comparative phrases and constructions with the meaning "as". You can check by adding "like...(to whom? to what?)" or "as... (who?), (what?)". In the first case, it is a comparative phrase that needs to be highlighted, and in the second, it is an application with the meaning "as" that does not need to be highlighted," Ekaterina Kozhemyakova, Candidate of Philology, head of the Department of Russian as a foreign Language at the I.N. Ulyanov Chuvash State University, tells Izvestia.

If the turnover with "how" is part of the predicate

To understand that the turnover is included in the predicate, you can remove the turnover from the sentence, then the meaning will suffer significantly, there will be an understatement, explains Ekaterina Mytskikh, a Russian language teacher at Online School No. 1.

He's acting like a fraud.

You look like a ragamuffin.

— If we remove the phrase with "how" from the sentence, then the sentence will lose its meaning: "you look like" is the grammatical basis, it does not have a complete thought, because it was the indication that someone looks exactly like a ragamuffin that was the main thing in this sentence. This is probably one of the most difficult cases in school practice," Ekaterina Mytskikh tells Izvestia.

If the turnover is part of a phraseological unit

For him, everything is like water off a goose.

The kitten was afraid of the dog like fire.

If "how" is preceded by the particle "not" or the words "quite", "completely", "almost", "like", "exactly", "just", "straight"

She was acting just like her mother.

Irina didn't look like a 20-year-old.

How to distinguish a comparison with "how" when a comma is used, from the circumstances of a course of action with "how" when a comma is not needed

The punctuation rules related to putting commas before the conjunction "as" are considered to be among the most difficult in the Russian language, Ekaterina Mytskikh notes. According to her, it can be difficult to distinguish a circumstance with the conjunction "how" from a comparison with "how".

— A turnover with the conjunction "how" must be separated if we are looking at a comparative turnover that cannot be replaced by a noun in the creative case or an adverb. For example, in the sentence "I wanted to sleep very soundly, as in childhood" there is a comparison "as in childhood", but there is no way to replace it with the creative case "childhood", explains Ekaterina Mytskikh, a Russian language teacher at Online School No. 1, in a conversation with Izvestia.

If words can be put in the creative case, then a comma is not needed. The expert cites as an example the sentence "The road led down, twisting like a snake." In this case, "like a snake" is not a comparison, but a circumstance with a union — you can ask the question "how did it wriggle?". Change the sentence to "The road meandered like a snake", that is, you can put the word in the creative case, so do not put a comma.

Knowledge consolidation test

1. He runs like a deer through the forest.

2. I know how to solve this problem.

3. The weather in the tropics pleases everyone.

4. We were late because the bus broke down.

5. The book is as good as new on the table.

6. She dances like in a fairy tale.

7. The meeting is tomorrow as promised.

8. Life is notoriously unpredictable.

9. He jumped like a tiger into the pond.

10. She wasn't like a mother.