A semicolon is added to the sentence. Punctuation marks in a complex non-union sentence

29.09.2019

When is a semicolon used in a sentence? The answer to this question is not as simple as it might seem. Russian grammar is considered one of the most difficult precisely because of such rules. In this article we will try to answer the question posed and consider everything possible options productions in this sentence

Semicolon: rules

This is placed between two or more independent clauses, which are combined into one without auxiliary conjunctions. At the same time, the likelihood of inserting a semicolon increases if these sentences are common and have commas inside.

“Meanwhile, the tea was drunk; the horses harnessed for a long time were chilled in the cold; the moon flickered faintly in the west and was preparing to plunge into the gloomy clouds sitting on the distant mountains, like pieces of a torn curtain.”

"Everything around is frozen in autumn dream; through the graying darkness you can barely see the mountains wide margins; they were cut by the Volga, spread across it and melted into the fog."

When is a semicolon used in complex sentences?

Compound sentences (CCS) are sentences that are connected to each other by coordinating connection. The parts that make up such proposals are considered equal, that is, independent of each other.

So, we found out which sentences are called complex sentences. But in what cases should you use a semicolon? So, this one is appropriate in the following cases.

Firstly, if the independent sentences included in the BSC are connected by the conjunctions “however”, “but”, “nevertheless”, “still”, etc.

“I only had blue paint; but, despite this fact, I decided to depict an autumn hunt.”

“It would seem that she had absolutely no reason to go to him, and he himself was not very happy with her; however, she came and lived with him for whole weeks, and sometimes much more.”

Pay attention! Our punctuation mark is placed before the conjunction “a” only if the sentences it joins have several commas inside and are significantly common.

“It seemed to me that he began to cry; but I must tell you that Vitka was a very stubborn boy, and sometimes you couldn’t get his tears out of him, even when he was younger.”

Secondly, if it were possible to put a period between the sentences included in the BSC, if they were not connected by the conjunctions “yes” (meaning “and”) and “and”.

“She was reading a book, thinking about what she was reading, pausing to listen to Nina Arkadyevna, who chatted tirelessly; and at the same time, various pictures of the future life together and farms without any connection appeared to her inner gaze.”

Sentences with common homogeneous members

Now let's talk about when to use a semicolon in a sentence with common homogeneous members. They are usually used when they have one or more commas inside them.

“In the darkness, the same unclear outlines of objects were vaguely visible: in the distance a blue-black wall, the same spots on it; next to me is the croup of a horse, which, wagging its tail, opened its mouth wide; the back of a horse in a white Circassian coat, on which could be seen the whitish head of a pistol in a homemade holster and a rifle in a dark case swinging; the light of a cigarette illuminating a reddish mustache, a beaver collar and a hand in leather glove" (L.N. Tolstoy).

“People were here from the villages and from the villages and the city, detained on suspicion of being Soviet workers, partisans, communists, Komsomol members; people who, by word or deed, insulted German uniforms; people who hid their Jewish roots; people arrested because they were undocumented and simply because they were people.” (A. A. Fadeev).

Complex sentences

When is a semicolon used in a sentence? This punctuation mark is placed between subordinate clauses (common), if they are not connected by a conjunction, and they are subordinate to one main one. This rule becomes mandatory if inside subordinate clauses there are other subordinate clauses.

“The difference is that, instead of the forced will that united them at school, they independently abandoned their mothers and fathers and fled from their parents’ homes; that there were also those who already had a rope dangling around their necks and who, instead of gloomy death, saw real life, and life in all its unbridled revelry; that there were those here who, according to a long-standing and noble custom, could not keep a penny in their pockets.” (N.V. Gogol).

Specifying boundaries between sentences

We continue to describe cases when a semicolon is placed in a sentence. If the semantic component requires the reader to clearly see the boundary between a group of sentences and individual sentences, a semicolon is placed between:

several independent proposals;
several subordinate clauses related to a single main thing.

“In that garden there were a huge number of crows, their nests covered the tops of the trees, they circled around them and croaked loudly; sometimes, especially in the evening, they took off in hundreds, raising others and making noise; sometimes one of them will quickly fly from one tree to another, and everything will become quiet again.” (A.I. Herzen).

Transfers

We've looked at which sentences use a semicolon, now let's talk about enumerations.

Our punctuation mark is placed after the listing headings. But only if these headings cannot act as independent sentences, but at the same time are quite common, and some other punctuation marks are already placed within them.

“Because of this use of mines, the following requirements were imposed on them:

so that a mine that accidentally comes off and floats freely on the surface of the water cannot harm a ship passing by it;
so that at the time of installation of barriers, mines do not float, thus indicating the location of the barrier to the enemy;
increasing safety when installing mines (Academician Krylov).

Thus, a semicolon can be used both in complex sentences and when listing something.

The meaning of SEMOLON in the Russian Language Rules

SEMICOLON

Punctuation

Semicolon

Meanwhile the tea was drunk; the long-harnessed horses were chilled in the snow; the month was turning pale in the west and was ready to plunge into its black clouds, hanging on the distant peaks like shreds of a torn curtain.

Lermontov

Everything around was frozen in a deep autumn sleep; through the grayish haze, wide meadows are barely visible under the mountain; they were cut by the Volga, spilled over it and blurred, melted into the mists.

M. Gorky

§ 131. A semicolon is placed between independent clauses that are combined into one complex sentence and are interconnected:

With conjunctions but, however, nevertheless, nevertheless, etc., especially if these sentences are significantly common or have commas inside them (for the comma before these conjunctions, see §§ 137 and 138). For example:

I only had blue paint; but, despite this, I decided to draw a hunt.

L. Tolstoy

It would seem that there was absolutely no need for her to go to him, and he himself was not too happy about her; however, she traveled and lived with him for whole weeks, and sometimes more.

Note. Before the conjunction a, a semicolon is placed only when the sentences connected by it are significantly common and have commas inside them, for example:

I thought he began to cry; but I must tell you that Azamat was a stubborn boy, and nothing happened, you couldn’t knock his tears out, even when he was younger...

Lermontov

There are only eccentrics around you, nothing but eccentrics; and you live with them for two or three years, and little by little, without noticing it, you become an eccentric.

Conjunctions and and yes (meaning “and”) only when they connect two sentences that would otherwise be separated by a period. (In such cases, sentences beginning with conjunctions and, yes, are connective in nature.) For example:

He read a book, thinking about what he was reading, stopping to listen to Agafya Mikhailovna, who chatted tirelessly; and at the same time different paintings economy and future family life without connection presented themselves to his imagination.

L. Tolstoy

Almost every evening later they went somewhere out of town, to Oreanda or to a waterfall; and the walk was a success, the impressions were invariably beautiful and majestic every time.

§ 132. A semicolon is placed between common homogeneous members of a sentence, especially if there are commas inside at least one of them, for example:

In the darkness, the same unclear objects were vaguely visible: at some distance a black wall, the same moving spots; next to me was the croup of a horse, which, wagging its tail, spread its hind legs wide; a back in a white Circassian coat, on which a rifle in a black case swayed and the white head of a pistol in an embroidered holster was visible; the light of a cigarette illuminating a brown mustache, a beaver collar and a hand in a suede glove.

L. Tolstoy

There were people here from the city and from villages and villages, detained on suspicion of being Soviet workers, partisans, communists, Komsomol members; people who, by deed or word, insulted the German uniform; people who hid their Jewish origins; people detained for being undocumented and simply for being human.

§ 133. A semicolon is placed between significantly common subordinate clauses, subordinate to the same main clause, if there is no coordinating conjunction between the subordinate clauses, especially when within such subordinate clauses there are, in turn, subordinate clauses, for example:

I will not tolerate the corrupter tempting a young heart with fire and sigh and praise; so that the despicable, poisonous worm sharpens the stem of the lily; so that the two-morning flower withers while still half-open.

The difference is that, instead of the forced will that united them at school, they themselves abandoned their fathers and mothers and fled from their parental homes; that here were those who already had a rope dangling around their necks and who, instead of pale death, saw life, and life in all its revelry; that there were those here who, according to noble custom, could not keep a penny in their pocket...

§ 134. A semicolon is placed between groups of independent sentences, as well as between groups of subordinate clauses related to the same main clause, if it is necessary to indicate the boundaries between groups of sentences in contrast to the boundaries between individual sentences, for example:

There were many crows in the garden, their nests were covered with the tops of trees, they circled around them and croaked; sometimes, especially in the evening, they fluttered up in hundreds, making noise and raising others; sometimes one will quickly fly from tree to tree and everything will calm down...

People of this party said and thought that everything bad comes mainly from the presence of a sovereign with a military court at the army, that that vague, conditional and fluctuating instability of relations, which is convenient at court, but harmful in the army, was transferred to the army; that the sovereign needs to reign, and not control the army, that the only way out of this situation is the departure of the sovereign and his court from the army; that the mere presence of the sovereign would paralyze the 50 thousand troops needed to ensure his personal safety; that the worst, but independent commander-in-chief will be the best, but bound by the presence and power of the sovereign.

L. Tolstoy

§ 135. A semicolon is placed at the end of the listing headings if these headings are not independent sentences, but are quite common, and especially if they already have some punctuation marks inside them, for example:

This method of using mines forced demands on them:

so that a mine that breaks away from the anchor and floats on the surface cannot damage the ship that encounters it;

so that when setting up a barrage there are no floating mines that could indicate the location of the barrage, and such mines sink;

increase the safety of min.

Academician A. N. Krylov

Punctuation

Rules of Russian spelling and punctuation 1956

Bottom of Form 0

Rules of the Russian language. 2012

Dictionary of linguistic terms

Semicolon

A punctuation mark consisting of a period and a comma below it, which is placed:

1) in a non-union complex sentence between its constituent parts (usually if they are significantly common and have commas inside them). The pale gray sky became lighter, colder, and bluer; the stars blinked with faint light and then disappeared; The earth became damp, the leaves began to sweat, and in some places living sounds and voices began to be heard (Turgenev). To the left was a deep gorge; behind him and in front of us, the dark blue peaks of the mountains, pitted with wrinkles, covered with layers of snow, were drawn on the pale horizon, still retaining the last glow of dawn(Lermontov);

2) in a complex sentence between its parts, if they are significantly common or have commas inside them. Almost every evening later they went somewhere out of town, to Oreanda or to a waterfall; and the walk was a success, the impressions were invariably beautiful and majestic every time(Chekhov). I invented all this because I absolutely did not remember what I dreamed that night; but when Karl Ivanovich, touched by my story, began to console and calm me down, it seemed to me that I had definitely seen this bad dream, and the tears flowed for another reason(L. Tolstoy). I felt terribly sad in an emo moment; however, something similar to laughter stirred in my soul(Dostoevsky);

3) between highly common homogeneous members of a sentence, especially if there are commas inside at least one of them. In the darkness, the same unclear objects were vaguely visible: at some distance a black wall, the same moving spots; next to me was the croup of a horse, which, wagging its tail, spread its legs wide; a back in a white Circassian coat, on which a rifle in a black case swayed and the white head of a pistol in an embroidered holster was visible; the light of a cigarette illuminating a brown mustache, a beaver collar and a hand in a suede glove(L. Tolstoy). There were people here from the city and from villages and villages, detained on suspicion of being Soviet workers, partisans, communists, Komsomol members; people who, by deed or word, insulted the German uniform; people who hid their Jewish origins; people detained for being undocumented and simply for being human(Fadeev);

4) between subordinate clauses, if they are significantly common, have commas inside them and are not connected by coordinating conjunctions. Davydov felt a little sad because a lot had changed there now; that now he will no longer be able to sit all night long drawings; that now they have apparently forgotten about him(Sholokhov). What was he thinking about? About the fact that he was poor; that through labor he had to gain both independence and honor for himself; that God could have given him more intelligence and money; that there are such idle happy people, short-sighted people, sloths for whom life is much easier(Pushkin).

§ 130. A semicolon is placed between independent clauses combined into one complex sentence without the help of conjunctions, especially if such sentences are significantly common and have commas inside them (for a comma between independent clauses combined into one complex, see §§ 137 and 138 ), For example:
Meanwhile the tea was drunk; the long-harnessed horses were chilled in the snow; the month was turning pale in the west and was ready to plunge into its black clouds, hanging on the distant peaks like shreds of a torn curtain.
Lermontov
Everything around was frozen in a deep autumn sleep; through the grayish haze, wide meadows are barely visible under the mountain; they were cut by the Volga, spilled over it and blurred, melted into the mists.
M. Gorky
§ 131. A semicolon is placed between independent clauses that are combined into one complex sentence and are interconnected:
1. With conjunctions but, however, nevertheless, nevertheless, etc., especially if these sentences are significantly common or have commas inside them (for the comma before these conjunctions, see §§ 137 and 138). For example:
I only had blue paint; but, despite this, I decided to draw a hunt.
L. Tolstoy
It would seem that there was absolutely no need for her to go to him, and he himself was not too happy about her; however, she traveled and lived with him for whole weeks, and sometimes more.
Herzen
Note. Before the conjunction a, a semicolon is placed only when the sentences connected by it are significantly common and have commas inside them, for example:
I thought he began to cry; but I must tell you that Azamat was a stubborn boy, and nothing happened, you couldn’t knock his tears out, even when he was younger...
Lermontov
There are only eccentrics around you, nothing but eccentrics; and you live with them for two or three years, and little by little, without noticing it, you become an eccentric.
Chekhov
2. Conjunctions and and yes (in the meaning of “and”) only when they connect two sentences that without them would be separated by a period. (In such cases, sentences beginning with conjunctions and, yes, are connective in nature.) For example:
He read a book, thinking about what he was reading, stopping to listen to Agafya Mikhailovna, who chatted tirelessly; and at the same time, different pictures of the economy and future family life without communication presented themselves to his imagination.
L. Tolstoy
Almost every evening later they went somewhere out of town, to Oreanda or to a waterfall; and the walk was a success, the impressions were invariably beautiful and majestic every time.
Chekhov
§ 132. A semicolon is placed between common homogeneous members of a sentence, especially if there are commas inside at least one of them, for example:
In the darkness, the same unclear objects were vaguely visible: at some distance a black wall, the same moving spots; next to me was the croup of a horse, which, wagging its tail, spread its hind legs wide; a back in a white Circassian coat, on which a rifle in a black case swayed and the white head of a pistol in an embroidered holster was visible; the light of a cigarette illuminating a brown mustache, a beaver collar and a hand in a suede glove.
L. Tolstoy
There were people here from the city and from villages and villages, detained on suspicion of being Soviet workers, partisans, communists, Komsomol members; people who, by deed or word, insulted the German uniform; people who hid their Jewish origins; people detained for being undocumented and simply for being human.
Fadeev
§ 133. A semicolon is placed between significantly common subordinate clauses, subordinate to the same main clause, if there is no coordinating conjunction between the subordinate clauses, especially when within such subordinate clauses there are, in turn, subordinate clauses, for example:
I will not tolerate the corrupter tempting a young heart with fire and sigh and praise; so that the despicable, poisonous worm sharpens the stem of the lily; so that the two-morning flower withers while still half-open.
Pushkin
The difference is that, instead of the forced will that united them at school, they themselves abandoned their fathers and mothers and fled from their parental homes; that here were those who already had a rope dangling around their necks and who, instead of pale death, saw life, and life in all its revelry; that there were those here who, according to noble custom, could not keep a penny in their pocket...
Gogol
§ 134. A semicolon is placed between groups of independent sentences, as well as between groups of subordinate clauses related to the same main clause, if it is necessary to indicate the boundaries between groups of sentences in contrast to the boundaries between individual sentences, for example:
There were many crows in the garden, their nests covered the tops of the trees, they circled around them and croaked; sometimes, especially in the evening, they fluttered up in hundreds, making noise and raising others; sometimes one will quickly fly from tree to tree and everything will calm down...
Herzen
People of this party said and thought that everything bad comes mainly from the presence of a sovereign with a military court at the army, that that vague, conditional and fluctuating instability of relations, which is convenient at court, but harmful in the army, was transferred to the army; that the sovereign needs to reign, and not control the army, that the only way out of this situation is the departure of the sovereign and his court from the army; that the mere presence of the sovereign would paralyze the 50 thousand troops needed to ensure his personal safety; that the worst, but independent commander-in-chief will be the best, but bound by the presence and power of the sovereign.
L. Tolstoy
§ 135. A semicolon is placed at the end of the listing headings if these headings are not independent sentences, but are quite common, and especially if they already have some punctuation marks inside them, for example:
This method of using mines forced demands on them:
1) so that a mine that breaks away from the anchor and floats on the surface cannot damage the ship that encounters it;
2) so that when setting up a barrage there are no floating mines that could indicate the location of the barrage, and such mines sink;
3) increase the safety of min.
Academician A. N. Krylov

A semicolon is added to the sentence. Punctuation marks in a complex non-union sentence

Semicolon: rules

When is a semicolon used in complex sentences?

Sentences with common homogeneous members

Complex sentences

Specifying boundaries between sentences

Transfers

The meaning of SEMOLON in the Russian Language Rules

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what a SEMOLON is in the Russian language in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

Dictionary of linguistic terms