"What is it" - as it is written correctly, with a hyphen or not

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

How to spell it correctly "or something", with a hyphen or not, is studied as part of the school curriculum in the Russian language. But over the years, no clear rules remain in the memory. It is necessary to once again remember the spelling and punctuation of native speech.

How to correctly write "what"

The combination "something" is stable, it is used often in conversation, but it is not always correctly displayed in the letter. The rule of Russian speech unambiguously states: the particles "would", "whether", "same" in writing are used separately.

Examples:

• Let's go for a walk.
• Tell me, an interesting case.
• Do you know, we'll dance, or what?

An exception can be a continuous spelling, if the "li" particles are included in the composition of words. When "li" is spelled as one:

• if;
• really;
• if;
• really.

In these cases, "li" is part of the word. The use of a combination in variations of "chtoli", "what-if" will be a mistake.

"What is it" - this is the only correct way to write. These are two separate words, one of which is a pronoun and the other is a particle.

Interesting! A lot - as it is written, together or separately

When is a hyphen used?

The rules for using hyphens are designed in accordance with spelling and punctuation. They clearly list cases in which it is recommended to use a hyphen in the middle, beginning or end of a word.

Interesting! The words "something", "anywhere" must be written with a hyphen. And these are cognate words to "li".

"Li" is a particle. The list of particles that need to be written with hyphenated words is clearly indicated in the rules:

• -tka;
• -so;
• -or;
• -then;
• - anything;
• some-, some-;
• -ka;
• -de.

The "li" particle is not included in this list, which means it is not hyphenated.

Literary examples

In sentences, the word "something" is separated by commas on both sides, if it is in the middle. At the beginning of the sentence is not highlighted.

Examples:

• Confess everything to him, or what?
• Man, don't you see, I have to go through!
• Marina, let's meet at the club, or something.
• Sergei, we could talk, perhaps, learn about plans for the future.
• I don't know whether to go for a walk in the garden or something.
• You don’t understand the simplest things, or what?
• You need to rest, or something.

The combination "perhaps" on the one hand is interrogative, on the other, it emphasizes one of the words in the sentence. Then the combination is located immediately after the highlighted word:

• And come on with you, or something, it's somehow inconvenient. S. Fomichev
• What do they feel sorry for, or something, ask. E. Nesterina

At the end of the sentence, "something" is also highlighted with a comma.

Interesting! How to spell "all the same" - together or separately

Outcomes

The combination "something" is correctly written only separately. "Li" is a particle that in Russian is not written together with other parts of speech.