And that means a dash. Russian Spelling and Punctuation Rules (1956)

Subject and predicate are in the closest almost "family" relationship - grammatical and semantic. The predicate is called so because it says, "says" about the subject. These members of the sentence carry the main meaning of any sentence.

Are there problems in the "relationship" of the subject and the predicate? Of course they do. First of all, it concerns compound nominal predicate. This predicate type, as you remember, consists of linking verbs(auxiliary component) and nominal part. Most often, in the role of a linking verb, we meet the verb be. Usually in a compound nominal predicate it is present in the past time: was, was, was, were . For example: Distinctive feature of the professor was his love for his subject.

In present time the linking verb is almost always omitted and the subject remains with the nominal part of the predicate. For example: Time is the best medicine.

Sometimes, however, we can meet the verb be in present time. As a rule, this is a feature of scientific, bookish speech. For example: Predicateis one of the main members two-part sentence.

In ordinary, colloquial speech, a linking verb be goes down. It probably wouldn't occur to anyone to say something like, "I'm a high school student." But the linking verb does not like to disappear without a trace, it often leaves its deputy. In the role of such a substitute, we can see dash. A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate if there is no linking verb, but sometimes before the predicate there are other words that can be “friends” or “not friends” with a dash. Remember a few tips.

1. "Friends" with a dash are words such as this is what it means. If you saw them before the nominal part of the predicate, feel free to putdash.

Modern children - This very inquisitive creatures.

Light winter rain here being disaster our time.

Be in love -means to understand and forgive.

2. “These words are not friendly” with a dash: like, that, as if, as if, exactly, not. If you saw them before the nominal part of the predicate, remember that they took the place of the linking verb, therefore the dash is redundant in this case.

Head without knowledge like a well without water.

The unlearned man axe unfinished.

birches in the forestlike girls in snow-white sundresses.

Baby eyesas if black beads.

Pines exactly large candles.

A heart not a stone.

Dash- a very important, verbose punctuation mark. There are a few things to think about when deciding whether to put a dash between the subject and the verb in a sentence.

1) See if there is a linking verb (!!! in any tense). If there is, do not put a dash.

Dog was its the best friend (linking verb in past tense).

Dog there is its the best friend (linking verb in present tense).

Dog will its the best friend (a linking verb in the future tense).

Compare: Dog -its the best friend (the linking verb is missing).

2) If there is no linking verb, we look to see if there are friend words or enemy words for the dash before the nominal part. If we see words this, that means put a dash. If you see the words like, what, as if, as if, exactly, not, dash is not needed.

3) What else can prevent putting a dash between the subject and the predicate? This is introductory words, adverbs and an inconsistent minor member of the sentence related to the predicate. They can stand between the subject and the predicate, replacing the dash.

The joint efforts of the student and the teacher, of course, way to success.

A rash decision is always risky step.

Your favorite peacock student.

4) We determine how the main members of the sentence are expressed. A dash is placed if in the role of the subject and predicate we see a noun in the nominative case, a numeral and a verb in an indefinite form (infinitive). If one of the main members of the sentence is expressed by another part of speech (adjective, pronoun, adverb), do not put a dash.

I am the best student in class(pronoun and noun).

Pavlik is the best student in class(nouns in the nominative case).

Two by two - four (numerals).

Justify idleness - case wrong(infinitive and noun in the nominative case).

This girl beautiful (noun in the nominative case and adjective).

5) Last difficulty. The order of the subject and predicate. If the predicate comes before the subject(reverse order of sentence members), dashes are not included.

Duty each person to be polite.

home task the art of making you think.

Probably not which of you are afraid of a rather large number of rules that you need to pay attention to when placing a dash between the subject and the predicate. Indeed, this is a difficult moment in the Russian language. And when passing the exam, you still need to know these rules.

But I really want to add that the dash is a wonderful punctuation mark, it is a favorite sign for the authors, because the author can put this sign where he wants to highlight and emphasize something. And then the rules break.

You are the most amazingpupils!

Tutor -not just a teacher.

The goal of every person is be happy!

Good luck in Russian!

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A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate in the absence of a link, if both main members of the sentence are expressed by nouns in the nominative case, for example: Man is the blacksmith of his own happiness; Pick up point - train station.

As a rule, a dash is placed:

1) in sentences that have the character of a logical definition, for example: Geology - the science of the structure, composition, history of the earth's crust;

2) in sentences of a scientific or journalistic style containing a description, assessment of an object or phenomenon, for example: Life is a special form of motion of matter that occurs at a certain stage of its development.;

3) after homogeneous subjects, for example: Flattery and cowardice are the worst vices(Turgenev); Space and time are the basic forms of any existence;

4) to clarify the meaning of the sentence: cf.: a) Big brother is my teacher; b) My older brother is a teacher.

Note. A dash is usually not put, although the subject and predicate are expressed in the nominative case of the noun:

1) in sentences of a colloquial style of speech that are simple in composition, for example: My sister is a student;

2) if comparative conjunctions act as a link as, as if, as if, exactly, as if, as if etc., for example: A pond like shining steel(Fet); You are between sisters like a white dove between gray, simple doves.(Nekrasov); Your brooch looks like a bee(Chekhov); The houses of the city are like heaps of dirty snow(Bitter).

Deviations from this rule are associated with the old punctuation norms or with the desire to emphasize the shade of comparison contained in the predicate, for example: Silence is like ice, you can break it even with a whisper(Leonov); Your words are like a sharp knife...(Lermontov); … Such a phrase is like a big helmet in a jumble(Turgenev); The trees on its sides are like unlit torches...(Bitter);

3) if the predicate is preceded by negation not , For example: This officer is not like you ...(Fedin); Analogy is not proof. Wed Proverbs and sayings: The word is not a sparrow: fly out - you will not catch; Poverty is not a vice; The heart is not a stone.

Setting a dash in this case aims to logically and intonationally emphasize the predicate, for example: But an explanation is not an excuse(Bitter); " Human blood is not water"(Stelmakh);

4) if between the subject and the predicate there is an introductory word, adverb, union, particle, for example: ... Goose, it is known, is an important and reasonable bird(Turgenev); After school printing is undoubtedly the first language teacher(Fedin).

Wed the presence or absence of a dash, depending on the specified conditions:

Cotton is the most important industrial crop. – Cotton, as you know, is the most important industrial crop(introductory combination inserted).

Cinema is the most popular art form. – Cinema is still the most popular art form(adverb inserted).

Kok-saghyz - rubber plant. – Kok-saghyz is also a rubber plant(joint inserted).

December - the beginning of winter. – December is just the beginning of winter(particle inserted);

5) if the predicate is preceded by an inconsistent secondary member of the sentence related to it, for example: Stepan is our neighbor...(Sholokhov);

6) if the predicate precedes the subject, for example: Wonderful man Ivan Ivanovich!(Gogol).

The setting of the dash in this case emphasizes the intonational division of the sentence into two compositions, for example: Good people are my neighbors!(Nekrasov); The good side is Siberia!(Bitter); Clever little thing - the human mind(Bitter); Psychological curiosity - my mother(Chekhov);

7) if the subject in combination with the predicate forms an indecomposable phraseological phrase, for example: Worthless is a theory that captures some patterns(S. Golubov).

A dash is placed between the subject and the predicate if both of them are expressed in the indefinite form of the verb, or if one of the main members of the sentence is expressed in the nominative case of the noun, and the other in the indefinite form of the verb. For example: About the decided to talk - only confuse(Bitter); Our duty is to defend the fortress until our last breath...(Pushkin); Of course, it is a great art to wait(L. Sobolev).

But (with no pause): What a joy to hug your son!(Dolmatovsky).

A dash is placed before words this, this is, here, this means, this means, connecting the predicate to the subject. For example: Everything past, present and future is us, not the blind force of the elements(Bitter).

Wed: The latest autumn is when the mountain ash wrinkles from frost and becomes, as they say, “sweet”(Prishvin) (the whole sentence acts as a predicate).

A dash is placed if both main members of the sentence are expressed in the nominative case of a cardinal numeral or if one of them is expressed in the nominative case of a noun, and the other in a numeral or a turnover with a numeral. For example: So nine forty is three hundred and sixty, right?(Pismsky); Ursa Major - seven bright stars. Density of gold - 19.32 g / cm 3.

Note. In the specialized literature, when characterizing an object, a dash is often not put in this case, for example: The melting point of gold is 1063°C; Crane lifting capacity 2.5 t, boom reach 5 m.

A dash is placed between the subject, expressed by the indefinite form of the verb, and the predicate, expressed by the predicative adverb in -about if there is a pause between the main members of the sentence, for example: Preparing for exams is not easy(Fedin); Giving up is shameful(Tendryakov); It's very unbearable to move(Goncharov).

But (with no pause): It's very easy to judge a person in disfavor(L. Tolstoy).

A dash is placed before a predicate expressed by an idiomatic turnover, for example: And a woman and a man - a nickel pair(Chekhov).

With the subject expressed by the pronoun This, a dash is put or not put depending on the logical selection of the subject and the presence or absence of a pause after it. Wed:

a) This is the beginning of all beginnings; This is the first performance of the actress; This is loneliness(Chekhov);

b) This is Zverkov's house(Gogol); This is a quail net.(Chekhov); This is a very difficult problem..

A dash is usually not put if the subject is expressed by a personal pronoun, and the predicate is expressed by the nominative case of a noun, for example: …I am an honest person and never compliment(Chekhov); I'm terribly glad you're my brother(L. Tolstoy); He is a corruption, he is a plague, he is an ulcer of these places.(Krylov).

A dash in this case is placed in opposition or in logical underlining of the predicate, for example: You are an old child, a theorist, and I am a young old man and a practitioner ...(Chekhov); I am a manufacturer, you are a ship owner ...(Bitter); Not me, not me, but you - a harmful element(Fedin).

A dash is not put if one of the main members of the sentence is expressed by an interrogative pronoun, and the other by a noun in the nominative case or a personal pronoun, for example: Tell me who your friend is and I will tell you who you are.

A dash, as a rule, is not put if the predicate is expressed by an adjective, a pronominal adjective, a prepositional-nominal combination. For example: She has a very kind heart, but a troubled head(Turgenev); My cherry garden!(Chekhov); The back of the shark is dark blue, and the belly is dazzling white.(Goncharov).

Setting a dash in these cases aims to divide the sentence intonation and facilitate the perception of its content, for example: Pupils - feline, long ...(Sholokhov); The height near the scattered houses of the farm is commanding ...(Kazakevich).

In footnotes, a dash separates the explained word from the explanation, regardless of the form of the predicate. For example: Lakshmi - in Indian mythology, the goddess of beauty and wealth; Apis - the ancient Egyptians considered a sacred animal.

§ 80. Dash in an incomplete sentence

A dash is placed when there is a pause in the so-called elliptical sentences (independently used sentences with a missing predicate), for example: Around the month - pale circles(A. N. Tolstoy); Above the square - low-hanging dust, on the square - empty bottles of breech, pieces of cheap sweets(Sholokhov); And all over the sky - clouds like pink feathers ...(V. Panova); Peakless - infantry helmets(Dolmatovsky).
There are traces of unknown animals on unknown paths...(Pushkin); Again at the hour of the night clouds over the earth(Zharov); In the steppe near Kherson tall grasses, in the steppe near Kherson mound(M. Golodny).
A dash is placed in elliptical sentences of a special structure, the basis of which is formed by two nouns - in the dative and accusative cases, without a subject and a predicate, with a clear intonation division into two parts, for example: Motherland - the enthusiasm and creativity of the young; For every young worker a secondary education.
A dash is placed in an incomplete sentence, which is part of a complex sentence, when the missing member (usually a predicate) is restored from the previous part of the phrase and a pause is made at the gap, for example: They stood opposite each other: he - confused and embarrassed, she - with an expression of challenge on her face; The pockets were double: the inner one was made of linen, the outer one was made of gray calico; One sodium atom replaces one hydrogen atom, one zinc atom replaces two hydrogen atoms, and one aluminum atom replaces three hydrogen atoms..
In the absence of a pause, a dash is not put, for example: Alyosha looked at them, and they at him(Dostoevsky); Yegorushka looked at him for a long time, and he looked at Yegorushka.(Chekhov); You make things long and I make things short(Leonov).
A dash is placed in parts of a complex sentence of the same type when a member is omitted or even without a omission, for example: Witnesses were talking in the hall - hastily, in discolored voices, judges - reluctantly and indifferently.(Bitter); Money disappears, work remains(Bitter); The game is over and the time has come for some to rejoice in the win, for others to count the loss.

§ 81. Intonation dash

A dash is placed to indicate the place where a simple sentence breaks up into verbal groups, in order to clarify or emphasize the semantic relationships between the members of the sentence. Compare: a) I couldn't walk for a long time; b) I couldn't walk for a long time. Such a dash is called an intonational dash, it can separate any part of a sentence, for example: I'm asking you: Do workers need to be paid?(Chekhov).
The intonational character also has a dash, which is placed between the members of the sentence to express surprise, for example: And they threw the pike into the river(Krylov).

§ 82. Connecting dash

A dash is placed between two or more words to indicate limits:
a) spatial, for example: train Moscow - Irkutsk - Khabarovsk - Vladivostok;
b) in time, for example: crusades of the XI-XIII centuries; mass holidays in July - August;
c) quantity, for example: manuscript of eight to ten author's sheets(same in numbers: 8–10 ); 5-6x superiority.
In these cases, the dash replaces the meaning of the word "from ... to". If, between two adjacent numerals, it is possible to insert a union according to the meaning or, then they are connected by a hyphen, for example: left for two or three days(but with a digital designation, a dash is put: …2-3 days).
A dash is placed between two or more proper names, the totality of which is called any teaching, scientific institution, competition, etc., for example: Cosmogonic theory of Kant - Laplace; Match Alekhin - Capablanca.

The lesson "Dash between subject and predicate" is devoted to the peculiarities of Russian punctuation. The teacher will tell in detail about the cases of setting a dash and about the cases when this punctuation mark should not be placed between the subject and the predicate.

Topic: Two-part sentences. The main members of the proposal

Lesson: Dash between subject and predicate

Dash is a punctuation mark.

In Russian punctuation, it is used to indicate pauses between words (parts of a sentence); to emphasize intonation (caused by the emotionality of the statement) in speech; between the subject and the predicate in place of the missing link; to highlight direct speech, introductory words; to separate the coordinating union with an underlined opposition.

There are several cases when for the intonation-logical division of a phrase a dash must be placed between the subject and the predicate.

1. Textbook: Russian language: textbook for grade 8. general education institutions / T.A. Ladyzhenskaya, M.T. Baranov, L.A. Trostentsova and others - M .: Education, Moscow Textbooks OJSC, 2008.

2. Complete academic reference book, edited by V.V. Shovel ().

In which sentences do you need to put a dash?

1. The picturesque people of the Indians (I. Goncharov).

2. This officer is not like you (K. Fedin).

3. Loneliness in creativity is a difficult thing (A. Chekhov).

4. The Ussuri tiger is not a fairy tale at all (L. Martynov).

5. An amazing thing is a dream (I. Turgenev).

6. Of course, it is a great art to wait (L. Sobolev).

7. Twenty years is a good thing (K. Simonov).

8. It is very unbearable to move (I. Goncharov).

9. I am an honest person and never compliment (A. Chekhov).

10. This is the house of Zverkov (A. Chekhov).

11. Without you, I am a star without light. Without you, I am a creator without a world (V. Bryusov).

12. Awakening hearts to fight is the best destiny of a singer (Kondyrev).

13. The writer's job is to resist suffering with all his strength, with all his talent. The business of the artist is to give birth to joy (K. Paustovsky).

14. The landscape is not a pendant to prose and not an ornament (K. Paustovsky).

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.

In Russian, there are cases when a dash must be placed between the subject and the predicate. The use of this sign helps to better perceive the intonation of the text, to place emotional accents in it. It is useful to remember about this semantic function, for example, a pause can become a hint when writing. There will be no problems if you remember the basic rules for setting a dash between the main members in a sentence. Let's list them. And then, for clarity, we give examples of sentences where the use of a dash is necessary.

When a dash is placed between the subject and the predicate

One of the cases of using this punctuation mark: subject and predicate - nouns in the nominative case, verbs in the indefinite form or numerals. This is where the separator function of the dash comes into play. We often meet such sentences when it is necessary to convey the logical meaning of statements. For example, there are many of them in textbooks or scientific papers.

The dash sign should be used before the predicate, which is the so-called set expression (phraseological phrase).

One of the requirements for using a dash in a letter is the presence of demonstrative words in the text. This, means or here before the predicate.

You need to pay attention to exceptions. In sentences where the particle is used before the predicate not, dashes should not be included. The presence of a comparative union as, as if or as if before the predicate says that the dash does not need to be written.

Another case: an introductory word is used between the main members of the sentence. In this case, the rules of the Russian language exclude the use of a dash.

Another exception to the above rules: the predicate in the sentence is used before the subject.

Example sentences with a dash between subject and predicate

As examples, we give sentences with various of the signs of the use of dashes discussed above:

Moscow is the heart of Russia.
Six six - thirty six.
Grandma's cakes - you will lick your fingers.
The ruble is a monetary unit, which is the main means of payment in Russia.
Freedom means responsibility.