The conjunction “and” is the most common in the Russian language. And although at first glance the punctuation rules associated with it seem very easy, in reality this is not the case. It is not always clear whether a comma before a given conjunction is appropriate or not; there are many pitfalls, even if we are talking about a syntactic unit of a simple structure. So, when do you put a comma before “and”? Let's consider this issue in detail.

Simple sentence. Situations when a comma is not appropriate

When is a comma placed before “and” in simple sentences? The conjunction “and” in a simple sentence is most often used to connect homogeneous members. And if there are only two of them, then they are not separated by a comma. Here is an example: “In winter and summer - one color.”

In addition, the conjunctions “and” can connect different groups of homogeneous members. And then, despite the repetitions, it doesn’t stand out in the letter in any way. For example: “In the house, under the decrepit and dirty table and sofa, there were piles of garbage.”

There are also situations when two homogeneous terms, closely related in meaning, are connected using “and” with a third - grammatically homogeneous, but carrying a different semantic load. In such sentences, a comma would be an error. Here is an example of such a construction: “She crossed the threshold and entered the room and lay down on the bed dressed.”

Simple sentence. Situations when a comma is appropriate

As noted above, in sentences of a simple type the conjunction “and” is used to connect members that are homogeneous. So when is a comma placed before “and”? Below are a number of such situations:

Complex sentence. We put a comma

When is a comma placed before “and” in complex sentences? In most complex syntactic units with the conjunction “and”, connecting their parts, is separated in writing by a comma. For example: “A strong wind was blowing, and the sailboat was literally flying through the waves.”

In this case and similar ones, the union separates two complete thoughts, which could well exist as separate sentences, which is why the overall meaning would not change. It is this point that needs to be taken into account first of all when the question arises: “Do I need a comma or not?” If a complex sentence can be painlessly divided into two or more, then yes, a comma is required. Here is an example when the repeating conjunction “and” connects three parts of a complex syntactic structure: “And the leaves fell, swirling, and the sad rain dripped, and the cranes sent a farewell cry.” This is a classic situation where you can’t do without a comma. There can be no exceptions here.

Complex sentence. Cases when a comma before the conjunction “and” is not needed

Many people who are not very experienced in grammar think that if a sentence is complex, then its parts are always separated by some kind of punctuation mark. But this is not true. A comma before “and” in complex syntactic units is not placed under the following circumstances:

Sentences with subordinating connection

In what cases is a comma placed before “and” in? We should start with the fact that “and” is a coordinating conjunction, and it cannot connect parts that are in subordinating relationships. It is found in syntactic constructions of this type, only connecting several and a comma between them is not needed if the subordinate clauses are homogeneous and have a common main part. For example: “My brother said that he was thinking of changing jobs and that this plant was already on his mind.”

If there is no homogeneous dependence, then a comma should be used. For example: “My brother said that he was thinking about changing jobs, and my mother was happy.” In this case, we have a complex construction of a mixed type, including both subordinating and coordinating connections.

Also, commas are appropriate between homogeneous subordinate clauses connected by the repeated conjunction “and”. For example: “Such uncontrollable laughter gripped the couple that their knees began to shake and real tears flowed from their eyes.”

Turn on logic

Even if you don’t know the rules, of which there are a very large number, you can just think logically. There are two patterns here:

• There is almost always a comma at the place of pauses (we say the sentence out loud).
• A comma separates parts with different semantic content (we think logically).

A thoughtful and attentive approach to business will definitely give good results! And it will help you avoid mistakes.

Conclusion

There are a lot of rules that indicate before the “and” and which do not. And it’s probably impossible to learn everything. But even a poor student will be able to write a sentence without errors if he says it out loud (or to himself) and uses logic. Then he will not have the question: “When is a comma placed before “and”?” Be careful and try to avoid mistakes.

Homogeneous members of a sentence connected by repeating conjunctions, if there are more than two ( and... and... and, yes.., yes... yes, neither... nor... nor, or... or... or, li... li... li, either... or... or, either... or... or, then... then... then, not that... not that... not that, either... or ...either), separated by commas: It was sad and in the spring air, And in the darkening sky and in the carriage (Ch.); There were no heated words or passionate confessions, no oaths (Paust.); After separation from Lermontov, she[Shcherbatova] couldn't watch neither on the steppe, nor on people, nor to passing villages and towns(Paust.); You could see her every day sometimes with a can, sometimes with a bag, sometimes and with a bag and a can together - or in an oil shop, or at a market, or in front of the house gate, or on the stairs (Bulg.).

In the absence of a conjunction and before the first of the listed members of the sentence, the rule is observed: if there are more than two homogeneous members of the sentence and the conjunction and is repeated at least twice, a comma is placed between all homogeneous members (including before the first and) : They brought a bouquet of thistles and put it on the table, and here in front of mefire, and turmoil, and crimson round dance of lights(Sick.); And today the poet’s rhyme -weasel, and slogan, and bayonet, and whip(M.).

With a double repetition of the union and (if the number of homogeneous members is two) a comma is placed in the presence of a generalizing word with homogeneous members of the sentence: All reminded me of autumn: yellow leaves and fogs in the morning; the same without a generalizing word, but in the presence of dependent words with homogeneous terms: Now it was possible to hear separatelyand the sound of rain and the sound of water(Bulg.). However, in the absence of these conditions, with homogeneous members of the sentence forming a close semantic unity, the comma may not be placed: There was a circle both light and green(T.); Day and night the scientist cat keeps walking around the chain(P.).

Note. Repeating conjunction should not be confused And and unions And, set on different grounds: It was quiet and dark, and the sweet smell of herbs(first And stands between homogeneous parts of the main member of the sentence, and the second And attaches part of a complex sentence).

When repeating other conjunctions twice, except and, a comma is placed Always: Constantly prick my gypsy eyeslife is either stupid or merciless(A. Ost.); He was ready to believe that he had arrived here at the wrong time - either too late or too early (Disp.); The lady is not really barefoot, not that in some transparent... shoes(Bulg.); It's been snowing all day or... rain with snow. They[lamp] just highlighted That walls of the cave hall, That the most beautiful stalagmite(Sol.); Whether it’s early or late, I’ll come.

Note 1. A comma is not placed in integral phraseological combinations with repeated conjunctions and... and, neither... nor(they connect words with opposing meanings): and day and night, and old and young, and laughter and grief, and here and there, and this and that, and here and there, neither two nor one and a half, neither give nor take, neither matchmaker nor brother, neither back nor forth, neither bottom nor tire, neither this nor that, neither stand nor sit, neither alive nor dead, neither yes nor no, neither hearing nor spirit, neither oneself nor people, neither fish nor meat, nor this nor that, neither peahen nor crow, neither shaky nor shaky, neither this nor that etc. The same with paired combinations of words, when there is no third option: and husband and wife, and earth and sky.

Note 2: Unions either... or are not always repetitive. Yes, in a sentence And you can’t understand whether Matvey Karev is laughing at his words or at the way the students are looking into his mouth(Fed.) Does the conjunction introduce an explanatory clause, and the conjunction or connects homogeneous members. Wed. Are there unions... or as repeating: Goingwhetherrain,orthe sun is shining - he doesn’t care; Seeswhetherhe is,ordoes not see(G.).

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Difficult cases of punctuation. Comma before the conjunction "I"

Conjunction "and" can connect Firstly , homogeneous members of the sentence, Secondly , simple sentences as part of a complex one.

To correctly place a comma before the conjunction “and”, it is necessary to distinguish the structure of a complex sentence from a simple sentence with homogeneous predicates or subjects. Therefore, first we recall the definitions of simple and compound sentences.

For example: It seemed like It’s as if they’re tearing up the whole forest at once and the earth is groaning in pain. (conjunction "and" single)

He recalled how the Nazis suddenly attacked them , and how they ended up surrounded , and how the detachment still managed to get through to its own. (conjunction "and" repeats)

Unfortunately, the division of rules into punctuation for homogeneous members of a sentence, signs in a complex sentence and working with a complex sentence including homogeneous subordinate clauses leads to the inability of many completing a Russian language course to navigate how and when this or that rule is applied. In addition, theoretical knowledge often does not allow one to correctly understand which of the rules needs to be applied, therefore, even if they know the rules, not all schoolchildren are able to use them appropriately and adequately.

Therefore, we offer you another way to master this punctogram, which was designated by Nikolenkova N.V.: go from the “external” signs of the organization of the sentence, that is, from the number of used conjunctions "and". We believe this will make the job of correctly placing punctuation marks a little easier.

Go to the second page on this topic

The conjunction “and” can connect:

• homogeneous members of the sentence (definition and definition, predicate and predicate, etc.);
• simple sentences within a complex sentence.

Placing a comma before the conjunction “and” connecting homogeneous members of a sentence.

A comma is PUT if the conjunction is “and”

1. with homogeneous terms it is repeated:

And the birch tree is cute in the sun, on a gray day, and in the rain.

2. connects more than two homogeneous members:

Being alone in the forest is noisy, and creepy, and sad, and fun.

A comma is NOT APPLIED if

1. homogeneous members are connected in pairs (pairs are separated from each other):

In Crete they lived freely and cheerfully, wide open and without hiding.

Placing a comma before the conjunction “and”, connecting simple sentences as part of a complex sentence.

A comma is APPLIED if

1. simple sentences are connected as part of a compound sentence: , and .

A thunderstorm was approaching, and clouds covered the entire sky.

2. after the subordinate part of the sentence comes the second part of the double conjunction THEN, AS or BUT:

He wore dark glasses, a sweatshirt, and stuffed his ears with cotton wool. , And when I got into the cab, That ordered to raise the top.

Occasionally a small snowflake stuck to the outside of the glass , And if you look closely, That one could see its finest crystalline structure.

A comma is NOT APPLIED if

1. both parts of a complex sentence have common minor member, most often this is a circumstance of place or time, less often an addition:

At the Christmas tree at school(this is the common minor term) the children read poems and Santa Claus gave them gifts.

At the Snow Maiden's (and this is him too) had large gray eyes and white braids that went down to the waist.

2. two impersonal sentences are combined (that is, there is no subject in the sentence), containing synonymous members:

Necessary wrap a scarf around your throat and necessary try rinsing it with baking soda.

3. general subordinate clause:

While Santa Claus was saving Snow Maiden, The Wolf and the Fox stole the lights from the Christmas tree and the holiday was again under threat.

4. general introductory word (most often this is a word indicating the same source of the message for both parts:

According to the wanderer Feklushi, people in this country with dog heads and a fiery serpent began to harness for speed.

Fortunately, New Year comes only once every 365 days and you rarely have to buy gifts in such quantities.

5. two interrogative, imperative, exclamatory or nominative sentences are combined:

Who are you and where do you come from?

Let winter end and warm days come!

6. two homogeneous subordinate clauses are combined as part of a complex subordinate sentence:

We went on a hike when the rain stopped Andwhen the sun came out.

Important! In cases of placing a comma before the conjunction “and”, connecting SIMPLE SENTENCES IN COMPLEX SUBJECTIVES, the logic of placing the sign is the same as with homogeneous members.

It seemed as if the entire forest was being torn down at once and the earth was groaning in pain.(conjunction AND single)

He recalled how the Nazis suddenly attacked them, and how they found themselves surrounded, and how the detachment still managed to break through to their own.(conjunction AND is repeated)

Not needed - there is neither a generalizing word nor dependent words.

...When repeated twice others unions, except and, a comma is always included.

Now about the peculiarities of placing a comma when repeating a conjunction twice And .

When repeating the conjunction twice And(if the number of homogeneous members is two) a comma is used when there is a generalizing word with homogeneous members of the sentence: Everything reminded me of autumn: yellow leaves and fogs in the morning; the same without a generalizing word, but in the presence of dependent words with homogeneous terms: Now it was possible to hear both the sound of rain and the sound of water separately.(Bulg.).

However, in the absence of the specified conditions, with homogeneous members of the sentence forming a close semantic unity, the comma may not be placed: (T.); And day and night, the scientist cat still walks around the chain(P.).

Note-1:

Repeating conjunction should not be confused And and unions And, set on different grounds: It was quiet and dark, and the sweet smell of herbs(first And stands between homogeneous parts of the main member of the sentence, and the second And attaches part of a complex sentence).

Note-2:

There is no comma in whole phraseological combinations with repeated conjunctions and... and , neither... nor (they connect words with opposing meanings): and day and night, and old and young, and laughter and grief, and here and there, and this and that, and here and there, neither two nor one and a half, neither give nor take, neither matchmaker nor brother, neither back nor forth, neither bottom nor tire, neither this nor that, neither stand nor sit, neither alive nor dead, neither yes nor no, neither hearing nor spirit, neither oneself nor people, neither fish nor meat, nor this nor that, neither peahen nor crow, neither shaky nor shaky, neither this nor that etc. The same with paired combinations of words, when there is no third option: and husband and wife, and earth and sky.

After making additions to the question.

A summary would look like this:

And I will turn the other cheek to both scoundrels: both.

With one dependent word we will not be able to create either a phraseological unit or a complete combination.

With two homogeneous members with a repeating conjunction, a comma is not placed if a close semantic unity is formed (usually such homogeneous members do not have explanatory words with them), for example: Both summer and autumn were rainy...(Zhukovsky); It was light and green all around(Turgenev); Oh, the box is full, full, there is chintz and brocade(Nekrasov); He lived and breathed it(A.K. Tolstoy); The coastal strip, crossed by capes, went in both directions(Semushkin).

If homogeneous members have explanatory words, use a comma in these cases usually is put, For example: ...There is both pride and direct honor in your heart(Pushkin); The felled aspens crushed both grass and small shrubs(Turgenev); Everything around has changed: both nature and the character of the forest(L. Tolstoy).

"Our" case - both sides.