In complex sentences consisting of three or more predicative parts, combinations of two subordinating conjunctions (WHAT IF, WHAT WHEN, etc.) and combinations of coordinating and subordinating conjunctions (AND HOW, AND ALTHOUGH, etc.) can occur.

1. Two subordinating conjunctions in a row can occur in complex sentences with sequential subordination of subordinate clauses. Compare two sentences:

And I'm telling you What I will go with you If you will go.
And I'm telling you what if you will go, I will go with you (L. Tolstoy).

In the first example, the main part is at the very beginning ( And I'm telling you...), followed by an adjective (... I will go with you...) related to the main part. Such parts of the assumption are called subordinate clauses of the first degree. The sentence ends with an adjective (... if you go), relating not to the main part, but to the first subordinate clause. Such parts of the sentence are called subordinate clauses of the second degree.

In the second case, the subordinate parts are rearranged: after the main part of the sentence, the subordinate clause of the second degree follows, and then the subordinate clause of the first degree. It was in this situation that two subordinating unions turned out to be side by side: the union WHAT, with the help of which the subordinate clause of the first degree is attached, and the union IF, which is attached to the subordinate clause of the second degree. In such a sentence, there is a comma between the two subordinating conjunctions.

Please note: from such a sentence, a subordinate clause of the second degree ( …if you go…) is easy to remove without destroying the entire syntactic construction: And I'm telling you that ... I'll go with you.

Now let's change this sentence a bit:

And I'm telling you what if you will go, That I will go with you.

In this example, the correlative word TO appeared in the last subordinate clause. This is the second part of the compound union IF ... THEN. As a result, there is no comma between the unions WHAT and IF. Note that here we cannot omit the second-degree clause ( …if you go…), since the sentence will retain the word TO, referring to the last part of the sentence.

It turns out that the union WHAT joins a single construction of two parts connected by the union IF ... THEN, and therefore, a comma between the words WHAT and IF is not needed. Consider two more similar sentences, only with conjunctions WHAT and WHEN.

That's because what when the car stops, your whole body slows down (A. Tolstoy).
Egor brought a remark unexpected for Levin, what when he lived with good masters, Then he was pleased with his masters (according to L. Tolstoy).

The comma between the unions WHAT and WHEN is only in the sentence where there is no word THEN.

2. In addition to complex sentences with sequential subordination of subordinate clauses, a similar situation can develop in constructions where both coordinative and subordinating relationships are used at the same time. In this case, there may be coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Compare two sentences:

Curtain rose, And How as soon as the audience saw their favorite, the theater trembled with applause and enthusiastic shouts (Kuprin).
Curtain rose, And How only the public saw their favorite, So the theater trembled with applause and enthusiastic cries.

Please note: in both examples, AND and HOW are side by side, but only the first sentence has a comma. The fact is that in the second example, the simple union AND and the compound union HOW ... SO were nearby. The second (correlative) part of the compound union follows after the subordinate tense.

Try to remove the clause from the sentence, starting with the word HOW to the next comma. This is possible only in the first case, and in the second sentence the meaning will be destroyed, since the second part of the compound union SO will remain in the subordinate clause.

Compare two more sentences:

and although her words were familiar to Saburov, they suddenly hurt her heart (Simonov).
The woman kept talking and talking about her misfortunes, and although her words were familiar to Saburov, But they suddenly broke my heart.

In the second sentence, there is no comma between the union AND and the union ALTHOUGH, since the concessive clause is followed by the conjunction BUT, which actually takes on the function of connecting the first and third parts of the complex sentence. For this reason, in the second example, the words AND ALTHOUGH are converted into a single allied combination that does not require separation in writing with a comma.

So, you need to remember the following rules.

1. With consistent subordination, subordinating conjunctions may be nearby (WHAT and IF, WHAT and WHEN, etc.). A comma is placed between them only if there are no correlative words TO or THEN further in the sentence.

2. If in a complex sentence there are coordinating and subordinating conjunctions (AND and ALTHOUGH, AND AND HOW, etc.), then you need to find out if there are correlative words TO, SO or another coordinating union (A, BUT, HOWEVER) after the clause and etc.). A comma is placed only when these words are absent after the subordinate clause.

Exercise

The hunting sign that if the first beast and the first bird are not missed, then the field will be happy, turned out to be fair (L. Tolstoy).

She knew that if the letter was shown to her husband, he would not refuse her (according to Tolstoy).

He felt that if he stumbled, then everything would immediately go to hell (Gogol).

It always happened with Levin that when the first shots were unsuccessful, he got excited, annoyed, and shot badly all day long (Tolstoy).

It never occurred to him that if he and other foreign idealists were Russians in Russia, they would be exterminated immediately by the Leninist regime (Nabokov).

In this case, the Foolovites surprised the world with their ingratitude, and as soon as they learned that the mayor was having a bad time, they immediately deprived him of their popularity (Saltykov-Shchedrin).

On the way, he ran into a changer's shop and exchanged all his large paper for small paper, and although he lost it on the exchange, his wallet grew considerably thicker (according to Dostoevsky).

In the penultimate room Andrei Filippovich met him, and although there were quite a few other faces in the room, completely strangers to Mr. Golyadkin at the present moment, our hero did not even want to pay attention to such a circumstance (Dostoevsky).

By morning the temperature had dropped, and although I was sluggish like a toad, I put on my purple dressing gown over my corn-yellow pajamas and went to the office where the telephone was (Nabokov).

It may very well be that if the forms do not match my requirements, I will abandon the legal claim (Tolstoy).

Andrei Filippovich replied to Mr. Golyadkin with such a look that if our hero had not already been completely killed, he would certainly have been killed another time (Dostoevsky).

For example, she became more and more convinced that if the general conversation was sometimes conducted in French, then this was done by conspiracy for the sake of devilish fun (according to Nabokov).

The regimental commander announced that if these scandals do not stop, then we must go out (Tolstoy).

He felt that if he admitted this, it would be proved to him that he was talking nonsense that had no meaning (Tolstoy).

Levin made the remark a long time ago that when it is awkward with people because of their excessive compliance, humility, it will very soon become unbearable from their excessive exactingness and captiousness (Tolstoy).

Yankel turned to him and said that Ostap was in the city dungeon, and although it was difficult to persuade the guards, he hoped to get him a meeting (according to Gogol).

He also petitioned for the establishment of an academy, and when he was refused, he built a movable house in its place (Saltykov-Shchedrin) without further thought.

Even by the sound of light steps on the stairs, he felt her approach, and although he was pleased with his speech, he became afraid for the upcoming explanation ... (Tolstoy).

1. _ although no one asked himself, what does anyone care about the fact that the mayor is sleeping on the glacier, and not in an ordinary bedroom, but everyone was worried (Saltykov-Shchedrin).

But their hopes did not come true, and when the fields cleared of snow in the spring, the Foolovites, not without amazement, saw that they were completely naked (Saltykov-Shchedrin).

In a word, he thoroughly studied mythology, and although he liked to pretend to be pious, in essence he was the worst idolater (Saltykov-Shchedrin).

I liked to visit them, and although I overate terribly, like all those who visited them, although it was very harmful for me, I was always glad to go to them (Gogol).

She told him to hide under the bed, and as soon as the anxiety passed, she called her maid, a captive Tatar, and gave her the order to carefully take him out into the garden and send him over the fence from there (Gogol).

The grammarians started before everyone else, and as soon as the rhetoricians intervened, they already ran away and stood on the dais to observe the battle (according to Gogol).

Russian language

How to put a comma with the union "because"?

3 comments

Understanding how to correctly put a comma in the union “because” is easy. There is a misconception that a comma will always be inserted before “what”, this is not so, there are exceptions.

It is unreasonable to repeat other people's mistakes, you need to understand the designs. There is no comma after the union "because" and the rules do not mention this.

Comma in conjunction "because"

It is placed before the word and therefore in the middle between words, but certain conditions must be met for this. What is the main idea of ​​the sentence?

What should the reader understand first?

When we pronounce words, we pause and use intonation to express all punctuation marks. In oral speech, we do not think about how to pause, they are formed on an intuitive level.

Written speech is devoid of emotional outbursts and signs help to correctly determine the mood or essence of the spoken phrase. They affect people's perception of information. With the help of signs, you can understand how the author wants to convey his emotions to us in the text.

comma before because

Putting a comma in the right place will not change the essence of the sentence.

• He was walking along the road and stumbled because he did not see a large stone.

Here is the reason: he stumbled because he did not see.

• He was walking along the road and stumbled because his legs were tired and the pavement was occupied by a car.

In the second sentence, we confirm the action: stumbled due to tired legs. If we put a comma before "Because", then the essence of the sentence would change.

If you compose sentences in such a way that you want to explain the first action of the sentence with a participial turnover, then a comma is put after that.

• He went outside for a walk because his head needed fresh air.
• We are walking on this bridge because it was recently repaired.
• Marina is dancing because she does not see herself in another profession.

Now let's look at examples of sentences that are exactly the same, but punctuation marks can be put in different places. And the essence of the proposals will change dramatically.

Example 2

• She loved him because he was always there for her.
• She loved him because he was always there.

Commas placed in different places in the same sentences change its essence. In the first option, it is appropriate to ask the question, why did the girl love the guy?

He was always there. In the second case, it is said that the girl loved, and the main emphasis is done on the fact of the existence of love, but for what, is already of secondary importance.

After reviewing several examples, we found out that a comma can be placed in different places depending on the essence of the sentence.

Where is the comma placed in the conjunction "because"?

In the rules, we put a comma after the word because, and various particles are added, and a sign is placed before because.

1. Particle "Not" before "because":
   She loved him not because he was handsome and smart.
2. Before "Because" introductory words or participles, separated by commas on both sides:
   He was walking along the road and stumbled, as it turned out, because he did not look at the road.
   As it turned out - an introductory design.
3. “What” is preceded by a comma in the “because” construction, if a special clarifying particle is added before the union, which creates a restrictive or expressive character of the sentence.
   He was walking down the road and only stumbled because the sidewalk was occupied by a parked car.
   Just a clarifying particle.
4. If the sentence has several homogeneous members, then after "because" a comma must be placed.
   She loved the guy because he was brave, and also because he was handsome and smart.

In all the above 4 cases, A comma must be placed before "what".

If an action is expressed, then it is followed by an explanation of the reason for this action, then a comma is most often placed before the “because” construction.

Write correctly, then all thoughts will have the right expression. Read useful materials on, and also use the rules mentioned and write correctly.

Like many derivative service parts of speech, the word “because” raises many questions: is a comma needed, where is it placed, if necessary (before or after “because”), is the word “because” distinguished by commas on both sides. To answer these questions, we must turn to the meaning of the union in this sentence.

"Because" is separated by commas

Before a phrase

The word "because" is a subordinating conjunction, it connects parts of a complex sentence: it attaches a subordinate clause of the cause. So the answer to the question, before "because" is a comma or not, is obvious. Of course, a comma is needed before “because” if the whole combination is a union. It can be replaced by the synonymous conjunction "because".

• We could not even move, because the dried leaves rustled loudly from our movements.
• Now it is pointless to talk about it, because nothing can be changed anyway.

After the word "because"

However, it is important to determine where to put commas, because this combination can be separated by a comma in some cases.

1. A comma is placed after "because" if there is a negative particle "not" before it.

• I didn't do this because I don't love you.
• He didn't go to the party not because he didn't want to.

2. The sign appears after “because”, if there are any reinforcing or restrictive words: “only”, “precisely”, “perhaps”, etc.

4. Finally, a comma after "because" is placed if the sentence contains a list of reasons.

Do you know..

Which option is correct?
(according to last week's statistics, only 68% answered correctly)

In the section on the question Is there a comma before "because"? Or "because" is written with a comma before the word "what"? given by the author Neurosis the best answer is If the subordinate clause is connected to the main one with the help of a complex (compound) subordinating union, then the place of the punctuation mark is often determined by the writer himself - depending on the specific goals of the statement. You can write He liked her because she was very beautiful (emphasis on the result) or he liked her because she was very beautiful (emphasis on the cause).
When the union is dismembered, its first part becomes a correlative word included in the main part of the complex sentence as one of its members (as a rule, circumstances), and the subordinate clause acquires a clarifying character: Her face turned subtly pink and slightly glossy (for what reason?) because (why exactly?), that she recently washed her face with soap (M. Sholokhov). (Compare her face<…>she was shiny (for what reason?), because she had recently washed her face with soap.)
However, there are formal conditions that dictate the mandatory dismemberment / non-membership of such an alliance. The conditions for the mandatory dismemberment of the union include the following:
The presence of a negative particle "not" before the union, for example: He did not like her because she was very beautiful.
The presence of amplifying, restrictive and other particles before the union, for example: He liked her only (only, in particular, just, exactly, etc.) because she was very beautiful.
The presence of an introductory word or an introductory construction before the union, for example: He liked her, apparently (probably, maybe, it seems, obviously, one must think, I suppose, etc.), because she was very beautiful.
The inclusion of the first part (correlative word) in a series of homogeneous members or parallel constructions, for example: He liked her because she was very beautiful, and even more so because she had an extraordinary charm.

Answer from Conscientious[active]
What is the meaning of the offer.

Answer from Dima Leshy[expert]
Of course, a comma is placed in front of the phrase, because you need to learn the rule!

Answer from generosity[guru]
I don't understand, write a sentence.

Answer from Pavel Shilyaev[expert]
I agree with the above, it depends on the sentence, if it is complex, then a comma is placed before "because", and if "what" is not a union or allied word, then a comma is placed before "what".

Grammatically, "because" is always written separately.

Why not merged or hyphenated?

First, let's define what kind of part of speech this is - "because"? A it is nothing more than a complex union.

Despite the fact that there is a great temptation to write this stable combination together (“because”), it is correct to write it separately after all, because “because” and “what” are two different words, albeit united in a compound union.

The same applies to such a spelling as "because." Apparently, there is a confusion of the completely independent word “what” with the particle “-something”, which is just the right way to write with a hyphen (“because”).

When to write "because"

Now we propose to investigate another question: is it possible to write this combination in three words? Let's look at examples.

• Judging by what I heard, it is pointless to hope for their reconciliation.
• What can you learn about a man by what he eats?
• The character of a woman can be determined by what she carries in her purse.

In the above sentences, “because” is correct to write in three words, since in these cases it is not a complex union, but a combination of the preposition “by”, the pronoun “that” and the conjunction “what”. It is not difficult to distinguish it from a compound union: you just need to ask the question “why?”. A sentence that contains "because" will answer your question, and in the case of "because" you will not wait for the answer due to the illogical question.

By the way, in the first example, the phrase “judging by the fact that” is also a complex union, the spelling of which must be remembered.

Semantics

The union "because" attaches the subordinate clause of a complex sentence.

• You lie to me, and all this only because you are afraid of falling out of favor.
• I don't tend to lose my head because of love, because I don't let my feelings get the best of my mind.
• In sentences with this union, you will always find the connection between the base and the effect.

Synonyms

If you need to replace “because” with a conjunction that is close in meaning, we suggest choosing from the following row:

• Because,
• Because of,
• Because the,
• Because,
• After all,
• Because,
• Owing to the fact that
• Thanks to,
• Then,
• Due to the fact that.

When choosing one of these synonyms, pay attention to the appropriateness of using it in a particular style of speech. So, let's say, the colloquial "because" will clearly not fit into the official business style, and the bookish "because" will sound ridiculous in common speech.

Punctuation features

When it comes to graphically highlighting a union in a letter, the main difficulty lies in where to put a comma - before the union or inside it. Let's figure it out.

The place of a comma in such sentences, as a rule, is determined by the writer himself. It depends on what purpose he pursues in his statement. Examples for comparison:

• She liked him because he behaved gallantly.(The result is emphasized.)
• I don't keep pets because I don't have time to take care of them.(The reason is emphasized.)

When the union is dismembered, "because" is included in the main part of the complex sentence.

• I won't go to the cinema with him(for what reason?) because he doesn't know how to behave.
• The actress's cheeks flushed red.(for what reason?) That's why(why exactly?) that she forgot the text.

However, there is a number of conditions under which the union must be divided into two parts:

1. Particle "not" before the union.

• He loved her not because she possessed unearthly beauty.

2. Before the union, a particle that takes on the functions of limitation, amplification, etc.

• He agreed only because it promised him favorable prospects.

3. Introductory word (construction) before the union.

• She was late, probably because she took a long time choosing a dress.

4. "Because" is included in a number of parallel constructions (these can also be homogeneous members).

I value my friends because they keep me from getting bored, and even more so because they are my only support in life.

There is no need to dismember a complex union if it is at the beginning of a sentence(Most likely, this will be an incomplete sentence). Examples:

• Because you are dear to me.
• Because it's more convenient for me.

Let's make a brief conclusion: if in the sentence the emphasis is on the cause, a comma before "what", if on the result - a comma before "because".

So, now we know for sure: the complex union “because” has the only correct spelling - separate. Why is it important to know? Because literacy has been valued at all times, and even more so now.