Conjunctions are linking words likeand, or, but, thenandbecause:
They knocked down all the housesandthey built a car park.
Are there fourorfive people living in that house?
My shoes look greatbutare not very comfortable.
And, but, either … or, etc. (coordinating conjunctions)
Coordinating conjunctions connect items which are the same grammatical type, e.g. words, phrases, clauses. The most common coordinating conjunctions areand, or, but.
One-word conjunctions
Connecting words
Which do you prefer?[word]Redor[word]blue?
Connecting phrases
The meal was[phrase]very expensiveand[phrase]not very nice.
Connecting clauses
[clause]There are seats outsidebut[clause]some people don’t like sitting outdoors.
Connecting sentences
My grandmother’s name was Wall.Butshe became Jenkins when she got married to my grandfather.(In very formal writing, we don’t normally start a sentence withbut.)
Connecting prefixes
[prefix]Pro-and[prefix]anti-government supporters waited outside the parliament.
Two-word conjunctions
Some coordinating conjunctions have two parts:either … or…,neither … nor…,both … and…:
You can drink chocolate milkeitherhot in the winterorcold in the summer.
NeitherLisanorHelena had been to Italy before.(Lisa hadn’t been to Italy before and Helena hadn’t been to Italy before.)
BothyouandI know what really happened.(You know andI know what happened.)
Apart from two-word conjunctions, we only use one conjunction to connect words or phrases:
Becausemy alarm didn’t go off, I was late for work.
Not:Because my alarm didn’t go off, so I was late for work.
After, although, as soon as, etc. (subordinating conjunctions)
Common subordinating conjunctions are:after, (al)though, as, before, if, since, that, until, when, whereas, while, once, so, as soon as, provided that. When a clause follows these conjunctions, it becomes a subordinate clause, which needs a main clauseto make a complete sentence.
One-word conjunctions
[subordinate clause]Afterwe had talked on the phone,[main clause]I wrote down what we had decided.
[main clause]Everyone enjoyed the fishing trip[subordinate clause]althoughno one caught any fish!
[subordinate clause]Beforewe left at four o’clock,[main clause]we had something to eat.
When the subordinate clause comes before the main clause, we usually put a comma at the end of the clause. When the main clause comes first, we don’t need to use a comma.
See also:
Althoughorthough?
As
As…as
Before
If
Once
Since
So
That
Until
When
Whereas
Whileandwhilst
Conjunctions with more than one word
Some subordinating conjunctions consist of more than one word:as long as,as soon as,except that,in order that,so as to,provided that:
As long asthe waves are high enough, we can go surfing.
Provided thathe pays a fine, he will not have to go to jail.(formal)
Conjunctions that can be modified by adverbs
Some subordinating conjunctions may be modified by adverbs (underlined). For examplejust when, ever since, only if, just as, simply because, right before:
The phone rangjustwhenI’d gone to bed.
I have been afraid to swim in the seaeversinceI was young.
Position of subordinating conjunctions
Words and phrases such asabove all,anyway,as a result,as well,eventually,firstly,however,overall,rather,then,therefore,though,on the contrary(linking adjuncts) can create similar meanings to conjunctions (e.g. adding, cause and effect). These words are adverb phrases and can come in any position which an adverb can occupy:
He left home late.(As a result) he(as a result) didn’t arrive until 8 pm(as a result).
We cannot do this with subordinating conjunctions, which must come at the beginning of the clause. Subordinating conjunctions create a grammatical connection between two clauses, making one dependent on the other.
Subordinating conjunctionso:
| These two sentences mean the same thing but they are connected differently:
|
Linking adjunctas a result:
|
|
See also:
Clauses and sentences
Conditionals