Parts of Speech Serie – Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect two words or sentences together, creating better flow.
For example:
- “I put my dirty dishes in the sink. I cleaned them. Mom will be happy.”
- →“I put my dirty dishes in the sink and cleaned them, so Mom will be happy.”
Conjunctions are broken down into the following three categories:
- Coordinating Conjunctions join two words or phrases of equal importance.
- for
- and
- nor
- but
- or
- yet
- so
For example:
- “He does not like milk. He does not like cereal.”
- →“He does not like milk or ”
- “She scored 100% on the last test. I only scored 80% on it.”
- →“She scored 100% on the last test, but I only scored 80% on it.”
- Subordinating Conjunctions join an independent clause to a dependent clause to give meaning and relevance to the main clause. Subordinating conjunctions always precede the dependent clause.
- although
- as
- because
- since
- while
- before
- once
- though
- until
- whether
For example:
- “I like to play tennis.”(Independent clause) “It is fun.” (Dependent clause)
- →“I like to play tennis because it is fun.”
- “The ground has been wet all day.”(Independent Clause) “It rained this morning.”(Dependent clause)
- →“The ground has been wet since it rained this morning.”
- “She rang the doorbell.” (Independent clause) “I was on the phone.” (Dependent clause)
- →“She rang the doorbell while I was on the phone.”
- Correlative Conjunctions link two or more words of equal importance within a sentence and are used in pairs.
- both/and
- either/or
- neither/nor
- not only/but also
- whether/or
For example:
- “Both my mom and my dad are going away this weekend.”
- “You should either start trying or just give up.”
- “They neither behave in class nor do they do their homework.”
- “Not only does he speak Chinese but he also speaks Spanish and English.”
- “It doesn’t matter whether you win or not, just have fun.”