How to use commas in Russian vs. English?

Unlike in English, where commas around comparisons are optional, in Russian comparisons, commas almost always separate out the second part of the comparison. Usually comparisons start with words that mean “like” or “as if,” like:

• как (transcribed kak)

• словно (transcribed SLOVna)

• точно (transcribed TOCHna)

• будто (transcribed BOOta)

• как будто (transcribed kak BOOta)

For example:

• Он обнимал её долго, как будто она уезжала навсегда.

  Transcription: on abniMAL iYO DOLga kak BOOta praSHCHALsya nafsiDA.

  Translation: He was holding her in his arms for a long time as if she was leaving for good.
• Миша был упрямый, точно молодой бычок.

  Transcription: MEEsha byl oopRYAmyi kak malaDOY byCHOK i ZAMknootyi kak i iVO aTYETS.

  Translation: Misha was stubborn like a young calf and reserved just like his dad.

In Russian, commas should usually be put around participial clauses, that is participles and their dependent words. In English commas like these commas are often optional, for example:

• Какие-то дети, играющие во дворе, шумели и не давали мне заснуть.

  Transcription: kaKEEyeta DYEti iGRAyushchiye va dvaRYE shooMYEli i nye daVAli mnye zaSNOOT.

  Translation: Some kids playing in the yard were making a lot of noise and kept me up.
• Он шёл не спеша, рассматривая здания и людей вокруг.

  Transcription: on shol ni spiSHA raSMAtrivaya ZDAniya i lyuDYEY vaKROOK.

  Translation: He was walking slowly, examining buildings and people around.
• Я надел теплую куртку, купленную специально для такого случая.

  Transcription: ya naDYEL TYOPluyu KOORTkoo KOOplinooyu spitsiALna dlya taKOva SLOOchiya.

  Translation: I put on a warm jacket bought specially for such an occasion.

One of the biggest differences between using commas in English and in Russian is in how we use commas with conjunctions (words like “but,” “although,” or “because”). While English often allows some flexibility, Russian has rules that always apply to using commas around conjunctions. You can find these rules below.

In Russian, a comma must be used before conjunctions used for showing contrast (“adversative conjunctions”), such as:

• но (transcribed no, meaning “but”)

• а (transcribed a, meaning “but/and”)

• однако (transcribed adNAka, meaning “but/however”)

• зато (transcribed zaTO, meaning “but at least”)

Here is an example:

In English, we only need commas before conjunctions showing contrast if they introduce a complete clause, but in Russian we use them before every adversative conjunction (like in the example above).

Use commas before the second and all the following uses of any Russian conjunctions that occur multiple times in the same sentence, such as:

• и… и… (transcribed i i, meaning “both... and...”)

• или... или… (transcribed EEli EEli, meaning “either... or...”)

• не то… не то… (transcribed ni to ni to, meaning “either... or...”)

Conjunctions like these are called “iterative conjunctions.”

In Russian, commas are required before the second part of conjunctions that consist of two parts, such as:

• не только... но и… (transcribed ni TOLka no i, meaning “not only… but also…”)

• поскольку... постольку… (transcribed paSKOLkoo paSTOLkoo, meaning “as long as … so …”)

• чем... тем… (transcribed chem tyem, meaning “the more… the better…”)

Such conjunctions are called “correlative conjunctions.” For instance:

A comma must be used in Russian between all clauses:

Notice that in the example above there are three clauses with commas between them:

1. как только выяснилось (transcribed as soon as it was found)

2. что Максим лётчик (transcribed that Maxim was a pilot)

3. на него со всех сторон посыпались вопросы (transcribed he was bombarded with questions)

Things get a little more complicated when we use longer phrases as conjunctions, like благодаря тому что (transcribed blagadaRYA taMOO shto, meaning “thanks to the fact that”) or несмотря на то что (transcribed nismaTRYA na to shto, meaning “despite the fact that”). Conjunctions that are two or more words long are called “complex conjunctions.”

Whenever we use a conjunction to introduce a subordinate clause, we need to add a comma (since, as I mentioned above, a comma always goes between two clauses!), but when we use a multi-word conjunction, the comma can go in two different places. Here are the options.

1. The whole conjunction is included in the subordinate clause. In this case, a comma must be put before the entire conjunction. This placement is more common.

   …, потому что…

   Transcription: …pataMOO shto…

   Translation: …, because that…

2. The conjunction is split up into two parts: the first part is included into the main clause, and the second part (normally, just the last word) is included into a subordinate clause. In this case, a comma must be put before the second part of a conjunction. This placement is less common.

   … потому, что…

   Transcription: …pataMOO shto…

   Translation: …because, that…

Usually we put the comma before the complex subordinating conjunction. The conjunction is only split up when, at least, one of the following conditions is met:

• There is a negative particle не (transcribed nye, meaning “not”) before the conjunction:

  negative particlecomma INSIDE conjunction

  Я купил ноутбук не для того, чтобы играть в видеоигры, а для работы.

  Transcription: ya kooPEEL noutBOOK ni dlya taVO SHTOby iGRAT v VEEdiaEEgry a dlya raBOty.

  Translation: I bought a laptop not for playing video games, but for work.

  Compare:

  comma before conjunction

  Я купил ноутбук, для того чтобы играть в видеоигры.

  Transcription: ya kooPEEL noutBOOK dlya taVO SHTOby iGRAT v VEEdiaEEgry.

  Translation: I bought a laptop for playing video games.

• There is a particle, an adverb, or a parenthetical before the conjunction.

  particlecomma inside the conjunction

  Он бросил хоккей только потому, что ему не нравился тренер.

  Transcription: on BROsil khaKYEY TOLka pataMOO shto iMOO ni NRAvilsya TRYEnyer.

  Translation: He gave up hockey only because he didn’t like the coach.

  Compare:

  comma before the conjunction

  Он бросил хоккей, потому что ему не нравился тренер.

  Transcription: on BROsil khaKYEY pataMOO shto iMOO ni NRAvilsya TRYEnyer.

  Translation: He gave up hockey because he didn’t like the coach.

  The most common adverbs that precede multi-word subordinating conjunctions are:

  • только (transcribed TOLka, meaning “only”)

  • может (transcribed MOzhet, meaning “maybe”)

  • вероятно (transcribed viraYATna, meaning “probably”)

  • наверное (transcribed naVYERnaye, meaning “probably”)

• The first part of the conjunction is more tightly connected to the text before the conjunction because it looks like a member of a list of phrases with the same structure (so they are all objects of a verb, prepositional phrases, etc.)

  prepositioncomma inside the conjunction

  PОна дрожала от холода, от усталости, и оттого, что брат постоянно дёргал её за руку.

  Transcription: aNA draZHAla at KHOlada at ooSTAlasti i ataVO shto brat pastaYAna DYORgal iYO ZA rookoo.

  Translation: She was shivering from cold, from tiredness, and from the fact that her brother kept pulling her hand.

  The object of the preposition от (transcribed from) is того, so the comma comes after того.

  Compare:

  comma before conjunction

  Она дрожала, оттого что брат постоянно дёргал её за руку.

  Transcription: aNA draZHAla ataVO shto brat pastaYAna DYORgal iYO ZA rookoo.

  Translation: She was shivering because her brother kept pulling her hand.

• If you’re emphasizing the first word in a multi-word conjunction to make a point. In speech, you would do it by putting stress on it. For instance:

  comma inside the conjunction

  Мы продали дом ДО того, как узнали о его истории.

  Transcription: my praDAli dom DO taVO kak oozNAli a yiVO isTOrii.

  Translation: We sold the house BEFORE we found out about its history.

  Literally: lit. We sold the house BEFORE the time that we found out about its history.

  Compare:

  comma before the conjunction

  Мы продали дом и переехали в город, до того как начать свой бизнес.

  Transcription: my praDAli dom i piriYEkhali v GOrat da taVO kak naCHAT svoy BEEZnes.

  Translation: We sold the house and moved to the city before starting our business.