Introductory words in English. Features and differences from other parts of speech

Introductory words in English carry the same meaning as in Russian. They play a supporting role, but our speech without them would become more impersonal and poor.

Introductory words allow:

1. To express one's own or collective attitude: unfortunately (unfortunately), (unfortunately), to tell the truth (to be honest).
2. Arrange your speech: well (so, well), consequently (hence), in addition (to the same).
3. Specify the probability of the event: probably, surely.
4. To specify the source of information: in my opinion (in my opinion), in my view (from my point of view), as to be said (say), as someone said (as someone said).
5. To gain time, give yourself a pause to think over the following words: among other things, by the way, at all, in other words.

Of course, the list of functions that input words can perform can be continued. In any case, with their help you make your speech more intense, concrete and consistent. It is very useful to know the opening words for those who are going to take exams in English. They will not only help to win a few seconds during the monologue, but also make the written essay more logical and coherent.

How to distinguish the opening words in English from other parts of speech?

It's not always that easy. There are service words, the meaning of which can echo the meaning of the introductory words. For example:

Finally I could visit my mother-in-law.

I had a holiday and decided to visit my mother-in-law.

In the first example, finally is equivalent to "after all", hence, it is a service word. It can not be removed from the sentence without loss of meaning. The second at last can be omitted. The offer will become less personal, will lose the shade of regret (you can visit your mother-in-law, but do not really want it), but it will not lose its significance in general.

Speak introductory words in English follows, highlighting intonation. And then we'll talk about whether you need to isolate them when writing.

Should I single out the opening words with punctuation marks?

How is the situation in Russian? Introductory words must always be separated by commas or (in rare cases) dashes. In English, as you know, punctuation rules are more flexible and depend on the author's intonation. That is why the introductory words are very often not marked with punctuation marks at all. Unfortunately, for many students this flexibility is difficult. They, accustomed to the precise rules of the Russian language, it seems difficult in each case to decide independently whether to put a comma. Others, on the contrary, are beginning to put forth punctuation marks where necessary, although the minimum rules for their arrangement still exist. Advice for everyone: read the original texts in English more, gradually you will learn to understand where it is worth allocating such turns, and where not.

In addition, pay attention to the extent to which the meaning of the introductory word is far from the meaning of the main sentence. The punctuation mark depends on the degree of remoteness. If the introductory words are used "in passing", and after speaking this phrase, you will hear clear pauses around it, it can be enclosed in brackets. The softest degree of "distance" is formed by commas.

A number of such turns need to be separated by commas from two sides (for example, "however" - "however"). Some introductory words are separated by a comma only if they are at the beginning of the sentence (for example, "also" - "also"), and in the middle sentences - no. This is quite logical. Why overload the sentence with punctuation marks, because this introductory word is very short. So, the punctuation is affected by the length and location of the word in the sentence.