Вядома, здаецца, па-мойму - the words that show how sure you are and how the sentence connects to the last one. Always set off by commas.
I can mark how certain I am and connect my sentences using parenthetical words, punctuating them correctly.
Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
Па-мойму, гэта найлепшы варыянт.
In my opinion this is the best option.
Ён, мабыць, застаўся на працы.
He has probably stayed at work.
Адсюль відаць увесь стары горад.
You can see the whole old town from here.
На жаль, білетаў ужо не засталося.
Unfortunately there are no tickets left.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
A parenthetical word is not part of the sentence's grammar - it comments on it. Remove it and the sentence still stands. That is the test, and it is also the reason it is always separated by commas.
| Meaning | Words |
|---|---|
| Certainty | вядома, безумоўна, сапраўды, канечне |
| Doubt | здаецца, мабыць, магчыма, відаць, мусіць |
| Source | па-мойму, на маю думку, кажуць, як вядома |
| Order | па-першае, па-другое, нарэшце, урэшце |
| Contrast | наадварот, аднак, зрэшты, з другога боку |
| Summary | значыць, такім чынам, словам, карацей кажучы |
| Feeling | на шчасце, на жаль, як ні дзіўна |
Several of these are also ordinary sentence members, and the comma tells them apart:
They can open the sentence, close it, or sit inside it, and the meaning barely shifts - only the emphasis. What does not change is the comma.
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
Practice ExercisesTypical errors: omitting the commas, and putting them round a word that is functioning as a real sentence member.
Omitting the commas round a parenthetical
They are always set off: Ён, мабыць, застаўся.
Setting off a word that is a real sentence member
Adsiul vidac - no commas, it is the predicate.
Using Russian parentheticals
Мабыць, відаць, па-мойму, зрэшты.
Misforming па-мойму
The pattern gives па-твойму, па-нашаму as well.
Па-мойму, гэта найлепшы варыянт.
In my opinion this is the best option.
<em>Па-мойму</em> is built like an adverb from the possessive.
Ён, мабыць, застаўся на працы.
He has probably stayed at work.
<em>Мабыць</em> for a guess, and it takes commas on both sides mid-sentence.
Адсюль відаць увесь стары горад.
You can see the whole old town from here.
The same word as a predicate - no commas.
На жаль, білетаў ужо не засталося.
Unfortunately there are no tickets left.
A feeling parenthetical opening the sentence.
Зрэшты, можна зрабіць і інакш.
Then again, it could be done differently.
<em>Зрэшты</em> is the word for changing your own mind.
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in B2 course exercises
The syntax volume of the current academic reference grammar, cited as the standard reference for Belarusian sentence structure rather than for one quoted passage. It is what the description on this page is measured against; it is not a source for any single claim here.