Conjunction Rules
Conjunction Rules
Most simply, conjunctions connect things. They allow us to make longer more complex sentences.
There are four types of conjunctions: 1. A coordinating conjunction, which connects a word, a phrase or a clause of equal weight. 2. A subordinating conjunction, which only connects clauses and in doing so creates a subordinate clause. 3. A correlative conjunction, which operates in pairs to connect sentence elements. 4. A conjunctive adverb, which creates a relationship between ideas in the sentence.
1. Coordinating: A coordinating conjunction is a single word that joins words, phrases, and clauses of equal grammatical construction. Examples are knives and spoons (noun & noun), run or shout (verb & verb), down the stairs and around the house (prepositional phrase & prepositional phrase). Coordinating conjunctions also join complete sentences, i.e., independent clauses. These conjunctions also imbue equal grammatical weight, or rank, to the joined elements.
2. Correlative: A correlative conjunction is a paired conjunction that, like a coordinating conjunction, joins elements of equal grammatical construction. Correlative conjunctions also imbue equal grammatical weight to elements they join. These paired conjunctions join equal elements within an independent clause, forming compound elements, i.e., subject & subject, verb & verb, object & object, etc., and they can also join independent clauses.
3. Subordinating: A subordinating conjunction is an adverb that introduces a subordinate adverbial clause and joins the subordinate clause to the rest of the sentence. The idea, or proposition, expressed by the subordinate clause has less grammatical weight (rank or importance) than the idea expressed by the main clause. Subordinating conjunctions are not true conjunctions; their name, however, derives from their ability to join clauses. Most subordinators are a single word, but some are composed of two or more words, i.e., a phrase.
4. Conjunctive adverb: A conjunctive adverb is an adverb or adverbial phrase that joins two independent clauses (like a coordinating conjunction) while providing adverbial emphasis. Conjunctive adverbs are not considered true conjunctions.
Additionally, conjunctive adverbs sometimes function as connectors (something like a bridge) between words or phrases, linking entire sentences or paragraphs. Conjunctive adverbs performing this function are called transitional elements or transitions.
Finally, an adverbial word or phrase can function as an expletive, also called a function word or functor. An expletive is an exclamatory word inserted into a sentence that adds nothing to the meaning of the sentence; furthermore, these words have no grammatical function within a sentence.
Coordinating Conjunctions
❖ There are 7 coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet and So. FANBOYS.
➢ For (used to mean seeing that, since or because) and Yet (used to mean though, still, or nevertheless) can only join clauses.
▪ The word FOR is most often used as a preposition, of course, but it does serve, on rare occasions, as a coordinating conjunction. "For" has serious sequential implications and in its use the order of thoughts is more important than it is, say, with because or since. Its function is to introduce the reason for the preceding clause: “John thought he had a good chance to get the job, for his father was on the company's board of trustees.”
▪ The word YET functions sometimes as an adverb and has several meanings: in addition, even, still, eventually, and so soon as now. It also functions as a coordinating conjunction meaning something like "nevertheless" or "but." The word yet seems to carry an element of distinctiveness that but can seldom register. “John plays basketball well, yet his favorite sport is badminton.” “The visitors complained loudly about the heat, yet they continued to play golf every day.” Yet is sometimes combined with other conjunctions, but or and. It would not be unusual to see and yet in sentences like the ones above. This usage is acceptable.
➢ And: Joins two propositions (ideas)
▪ One idea is chronologically sequential to another. "Tashonda sent in her applications and waited by the phone for a response."
▪ One idea is the result of another. "Willie heard the weather report and promptly boarded up his house."
▪ One idea is in contrast to another. (frequently replaced by but in this usage): "Juanita is brilliant and Shalimar has a pleasant personality.
▪ An element of surprise. (sometimes replaced by yet in this usage): "Hartford is a rich city and suffers from many symptoms of urban blight."
▪ One clause is dependent upon another, conditionally. (usually the first clause is an imperative): "Use your credit cards frequently and you'll soon find yourself deep in debt."
▪ A kind of comment on the first clause. "Charlie became addicted to gambling — and that surprised no one who knew him."
➢ Nor: Used in negative expressions. Its most common use is as the little brother in the correlative pair, neither-nor (see below):
▪ He is neither sane nor brilliant. That is neither what I said nor what I meant.
➢ But: Joins two contrastive propositions (ideas)
▪ A contrast that is unexpected in light of the first clause. "Joey lost a fortune in the stock market, but he still seems able to live quite comfortably."
▪ An affirmative sense what the first part of the sentence implied in a negative way (sometimes replaced by on the contrary): "The club never invested foolishly, but used the services of a sage investment counselor."
▪ To connect two ideas with the meaning of "with the exception of" (and then the second word takes over as subject): "Everybody but Goldenbreath is trying out for the team."
➢ Or: Joins two alternative propositions (ideas)
▪ To suggest that only one possibility can be realized, excluding one or the other: "You can study hard for this exam or you can fail."
▪ To suggest the inclusive combination of alternatives: "We can broil chicken on the grill tonight, or we can just eat leftovers.
▪ To suggest a refinement of the first clause: "Smith College is the premier all-women's college in the country, or so it seems to most Smith College alumnae."
▪ To suggest a restatement or "correction" of the first part of the sentence: "There are no rattlesnakes in this canyon, or so our guide tells us."
▪ To suggest a negative condition: "The New Hampshire state motto is the rather grim "Live free or die."
▪ To suggest a negative alternative without the use of an imperative (see use of and above): "They must approve his political style or they wouldn't keep electing him mayor."
➢ So: First idea (the cause) results in second idea (the effect).
▪ Be careful of the conjunction SO. Sometimes it can connect two independent clauses along with a comma, but sometimes it can't. For instance, in this sentence, “Soto is not the only Olympic athlete in his family, so are his brother, sister, and his Uncle Chet.”
▪ where the word so means "as well" or "in addition," most careful writers would use a semicolon between the two independent clauses. In the following sentence, where so is acting like a minor-league "therefore," the conjunction and the comma are adequate to the task: “Soto has always been nervous in large gatherings, so it is no surprise that he avoids crowds of his adoring fans.”
▪ Sometimes, at the beginning of a sentence, so will act as a kind of summing up device or transition, and when it does, it is often set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma: “So, the sheriff peremptorily removed the child from the custody of his parents.”
❖ Joins elements of equal grammatical construction, e.g., two or more nouns, verbs, phrases, or clauses.
❖ Can join two or more independent clauses into a single sentence.
➢ When doing this, they are also joining propositions, or ideas, expressed in each independent clause.
❖ Lend equal weight, or importance, to the grammatical elements they join.
Then is a conjunction, but it is not one of the little conjunctions listed at the top of this page. We can use the FANBOYS conjunctions to connect two independent clauses; usually, they will be accompanied (preceded) by a comma. Too many students think that then works the same way: "Caesar invaded Gaul, then he turned his attention to England." You can tell the difference between then and a coordinating conjunction by trying to move the word around in the sentence. We can write "he then turned his attention to England"; "he turned his attention, then, to England"; he turned his attention to England then." The word can move around within the clause. Try that with a conjunction, and you will quickly see that the conjunction cannot move around. "Caesar invaded Gaul, and then he turned his attention to England." The word and is stuck exactly there and cannot move like then, which is more like an adverbial conjunction (or conjunctive adverb — see below) than a coordinating conjunction. Our original sentence in this paragraph — "Caesar invaded Gaul, then he turned his attention to England" — is a comma splice, a faulty sentence construction in which a comma tries to hold together two independent clauses all by itself: the comma needs a coordinating conjunction to help out, and the word then simply doesn't work that way.
Correlative Conjunctions
A correlative conjunction is essentially a coordinate conjunction used in pairs. A correlative conjunction gets its name from the fact that it is a paired conjunction that has a reciprocal or complementary relationship. Correlative conjunctions always join grammatically equal elements, e.g., noun & noun, adjective & adjective, phrase & phrase, clause & clause, etc. Additionally, correlative conjunctions lend equal weight to joined elements. The joined elements are of equal importance; one is never subordinate to the other. It's interesting to note that the second word of each conjunctive pair is always a coordinating conjunction.
Correlative conjunctions are essentially paired coordinating conjunctions. The meaning expressed by a sentence with correlative conjunctions is basically the same as a sentence having a coordinating conjunction. The difference is only a matter of emphasis, where the correlative conjunction reinforces the fact that there are two equal elements or ideas in the sentence. Note that correlative conjunctions usually immediately precede the elements they join.
Subordinating Conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction is an adverb or adverbial phrase that introduces into a sentence a subordinate adverbial clause, which functions to adverbially modify the main sentence clause or a part of the main sentence clause, usually the main verb. Additionally, the subordinate clause also introduces a new idea, or proposition, into the sentence. The new proposition expressed by the subordinate clause is said to carry less weight, or importance, than the idea expressed by the main sentence clause. (More on propositions.)
We might also note that a subordinate adverbial clause modifies the main sentence clause by introducing one of the following concepts into the main sentence clause: addition, cause & effect, comparison, concession, contrast, emphasis, example, summary, or sequence. Many adverbial words and phrases can function as subordinating conjunctions; following is a list of those frequently used in English. (More on subordinating conjunctions.)
|after |although |as |as if |
|as long as |as though |because |before |
|even though |if |in order that |provided that |
|rather than |since |so that |than |
|though |unless |until |when |
|whenever |where |whereas |wherever |
|whether |while |as soon as | |
A subordinate conjunction is an adverb that introduces a subordinate adverbial clause into the main sentence, i.e., the main clause. Grammatically, a subordinate adverbial clause can modify an entire main clause or just a part of the main clause, although it usually modifies a verb within the main clause. The subordinate adverbial clause will always answer the question when, where, how, why, under what condition, or to what degree an action occurred or a situation existed regarding the word or words it modifies.
In addition to its function as modifier, a subordinate clause also introduces (adds) its own idea, or proposition, to the proposition expressed by the main clause, which contains the core idea expressed by the sentence. The idea expressed by the subordinate clause is ancillary to that expressed by the main clause. The idea, or proposition, expressed by the subordinate clause is sometimes described as being lesser in rank to that of the main proposition. Although their name suggests otherwise, subordinating conjunctions are not true conjunctions; but the name derives from their ability to incorporate into a sentence another idea in addition to the idea expressed by the main clause.
Because many subordinating conjunctions can also function as other parts of speech, these adverbs are identified by function alone. All subordinating conjunctions are adverbs or adverbial phrases, but not all adverbs or adverbial phrases are subordinating conjunctions. Some adverbs can, for instance, function as conjunctive adverbs, which include transitions and adverbial expletives.
Conjunctive Adverb
• CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS, TRANSITIONS, & ADVERBIAL EXPLETIVES
Words classified as conjunctive adverbs include transitions and expletives, transitions and expletives simply being forms of the conjunctive adverb.
• CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
A conjunctive adverb, also called an adverbial conjunction, is an adverb or adverbial phrase that joins two independent clauses (like a coordinating conjunction) while providing adverbial emphasis to the second clause. The new construction always results in a compound or compound-complex sentence structure. Although their name suggests otherwise, conjunctive adverbs are not considered true conjunctions, even though these adverbs join independent clauses. Below conjunctive adverbs appear in highlighted text.
• Dennis went to the symphony; consequently, he was suspended from the band.
• Barry seems very friendly; incidentally, he's the same sign as I am.
• Our horse is a great jumper; on the other hand, he isn't very good in the races.
• Max appears to be a level-headed guy; still, there's something about him that's just not right.
A conjunctive adverb usually modifies the main verb in the second clause, answering when? where? how? why? under what condition? or to what degree? an action occurred or a situation existed. Additionally, as with other adverbs, conjunctive adverbs typically express a semantic relationship between clauses, sentences, or paragraphs involving the concept of addition, cause & effect, comparison, concession, contrast, emphasis, example, summary, or sequence.
The conjunctive adverbs such as however, moreover, nevertheless, consequently, as a result are used to create complex relationships between ideas. Refer to the section on Coherence: Transitions Between Ideas for an extensive list of conjunctive adverbs categorized according to their various uses and for some advice on their application within sentences (including punctuation issues).
Great Summery of Conjunctions
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As their name implies, conjunctions join together elements of thought: words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs.
Coordinating conjunctions are the simplest kind, and they denote equality of relationship between the ideas they join. Their relatives, correlative conjunctions, not only denote equality, but they also make the joining tighter and more emphatic.
|Coordinating Conjunctions |Correlative Conjunctions |
|and |both . . . and |
|but |not only . . . but also |
|or |either . . . or |
|nor |neither . . . nor |
|for |whether . . . or |
|so |just as . . . so too |
|yet | |
Examples:
• John and Sally built a fish pond.
• The train was late, and Tom was tired.
• Just as the smell of baking brought back memories, so too did the taste of the cider.
Coordinating and correlative conjunctions are great when two ideas are of the same importance, but many times one idea is more important than another. Subordinating conjunctions allow a writer to show which idea is more and which is less important. The idea in the main clause is the more important, while the idea in the subordinate clause (made subordinate by the subordinating conjunction) is less important. The subordinate clause supplies a time, reason, condition, and so on for the main clause.
|Subordinating Conjunctions |
|Time |Reason |Concession |Place |Condition |Manner |
|after |because |although |where |if |as if |
|before |since |though |wherever |unless |as though |
|since |so that |even though | |until |how |
|when |in order that |while | |in case | |
|whenever |why | | |provided that | |
|while | | | |assuming that | |
|until | | | |even if | |
|as | | | | | |
|as . . . as | | | | | |
|once | | | | | |
Examples:
• Sally steamed the corn while Fred fried the steaks.
• After the rain stopped, the dog ran into the mud to play.
• The snowman melted because the sun came out.
• Even though John fell asleep, the telephone salesman kept talking.
Conjunctive adverbs make up an even stronger category of conjunctions. They show logical relationships between two independent sentences, between sections of paragraphs, or between entire paragraphs. Conjunctive adverbs are so emphatic that they should be used sparingly; however, when used appropriately, they can be quite effective.
|Conjunctive Adverbs |
|also |consequently |
|hence |furthermore |
|however |nevertheless |
|still |instead |
|likewise |moreover |
|otherwise |then |
|therefore |thus |
|conversely |meanwhile |
|rather |accordingly |
Examples:
• If the salmon is grilled, I will have that; otherwise, I might have the chicken.
• James has a garage full of wood working tools. He might, however, have some metric wrenches, too.
• I do not recommend that you play with a stick of dynamite lit at both ends. Rather, a ham sandwich would be better for you.
Relative pronouns and relative adjectives are also used to join ideas together by creating adjective or noun clauses, which allow a writer to create smoother, more flowing and effective sentences by combining ideas.
|Relative Pronouns and Relative Adjectives |
|who |which |
|whom |that |
|whose |what |
|whoever |whichever |
|whomever |whatever |
Examples:
• This is the man who sells peanuts.
• Tell me what you want.
• Hers is an idea that I would like to think through.
• The shirts, which are in the laundry, will need ironing.
Adverbs of time, place, and sequence are actually transitions of logic, but as such they also have conjunctive force, because they connect ideas by showing a time relationship.
|Adverbs of Time, Place, and Sequence |
|earlier |then |first |
|next |now |second |
|lastly |soon |third |
|later |here |fourth |
|before |there |eventually |
|after |today |tomorrow |
Examples:
• The twilight glides away. Soon night will awake.
• First, get a pad and pencil. Next, find a quiet place to think.
Expletives are closely related to conjunctive adverbs. The "official" line on expletives is that they convey no meaning of their own but instead serve only to emphasize the statement to which they are attached. As such, then, they technically do not show a logical relationship like time or cause between ideas, and that fact prevents them from being true-blue conjunctive adverbs. But it could be argued that expletives create a relationship of emphasis between ideas: this new idea is important in light of what preceded it. Indeed, that is why they are included here.
|Expletives |
|of course |in fact |to be sure |
|indeed |I think |without doubt |
|naturally |it seems |for all that |
|after all |in brief |on the whole |
|in short |clearly |in any event |
|I hope |I suppose |importantly |
|at least |assuredly |certainly |
|remarkably |definitely |naturally |
Examples:
• The flashlight hit the floor and broke into a hundred pieces. At least there was a candle in the room.
• They all began to use appropriate expletives in their writing. They were convinced, I suppose, by the excellent examples.
• The conjunction list has left the building. On the whole, I hope you enjoyed it.
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