[e-mail]_2012-06-24_15-33-11 английский язык / 32 independent parts of the sentence

32. Independent Parts of the Sentence

Words of phrases which are not connected grammatically (syntactically) to any constituent of the sentence. They are marked by intonation, pauses, special stress in spoken language; in written language they are separated by commas or dashes.

1. Direct address is represented in the sentence by the name of a person or a non-person to whom the rest of the sentence is usually addressed:

What would you advise me, Doctor?

2. Disjuncts express the speaker's attitude towards the content of the sentence. These may be words and phrases specifying the sense in which the sentence is supposed to be under-stood (personally, frankly, generally, briefly, to be fair). Disjuncts may also be modal adverbs commenting on the truth-value of the sentence (perhaps, probably, actually) or adverbs expressing emotional attitude of the speaker (happily, hopefully, strangely):

Actually, he was enjoying himself immensely.

Hopefully we will do well.

3. Conjuncts provide a logical link to a preceding sentence and to indicate the place of the sentence within the structure of the discourse. These are: after all, besides, by the way, conse­quently, first, firstly, for example, moreover, on the con­trary, otherwise, to begin with, on the other hand:

4. Exclamatory emotive words (interjections) can also be very loosely connected to the rest of the sentence:

Oh, Good Gracious, you couldn't have done that!