Conjunctions

What are Conjunctions?

The word conjunction means “joined together.” Conjunctions are words that join parts of sentences together. A conjunction can join words, phrases, or clauses.

The three most common types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions

The word coordinate means “same rank.” Coordinating conjunctions are used to join together two grammatical units of equal importance. Use coordinating conjunctions to connect two adjectives, adverbs, nouns, phrases, or independent clauses. When connecting two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, a comma must be placed before the coordinating conjunction.

Here is a list of coordinating conjunctions. These can be remembered with the acronym FANBOYS.

Connecting words:

Example: Jack was fast but clumsy. (Connecting adjectives)
Example: Billy and Mandy went to school. (Connecting nouns)

Connecting phrases:

Example: We traveled over the hills and under the shadows of mountains. (Connecting adverbial phrases)
Example: Right before sunrise and right after sunset are my favorite times to run. (Connecting nominal phrases)

Connecting clauses:

Example: Julie went to the store, but Jack went to music practice. (Connecting independent clauses)

Subordinating conjunctions

The word subordinate means “lower rank.” Subordinating conjunctions are used to join together clauses when one of the clauses is lower rank than the other. Use subordinating conjunctions to connect a dependent clause to an independent clause.

Here is an incomplete list of subordinating conjunctions:

As
As long as
Although
Because
If
In case
In order
Since
So
Unless
While

An independent clause is a clause that can function as a complete sentence. A dependent clause is a clause that cannot function as a complete sentence. The subordinating conjunction connects these two clauses.

Example: Jamie kept falling asleep during class. (Independent clause)
Example: because he stayed up too late (Dependent clause)
Example: Jamie kept falling asleep during class because he stayed up too late. (Clauses connected by subordinating conjunction)

When the independent clause comes first in a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, a comma is not required to separate the two clauses.

Example: Gandalf gave the Ring to Frodo since he knew he could trust the goodness of hobbits.

When the dependent clause comes first in a sentence with a subordinating conjunction, a comma is required to separate the two clauses.

Example: Since he knew he could trust the goodness of hobbits, Gandalf gave the Ring to Frodo.

Subordinating conjunctions can be a single word, like because, or a group of words, like as long as.

Example: We had spaghetti for dinner because he loved Italian food.
Example: As long as we have Italian food for dinner, he will be happy.

Correlative conjunctions

The word correlative means “related together.” Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that relate information together in a sentence.

Here is an incomplete list of correlative conjunctions:

Either/or
Neither/nor
Not only/but also
Both/and

Order matters for correlative conjunctions. The first item listed in each pair shown above must come first in a sentence.

Example: Julie will take either strawberry or vanilla ice cream.
Example: Neither Julie nor Nathan enjoys banana ice cream.
Example: Batman is not only a genius detective but also a master of martial arts.
Example: Batman is both a genius detective and a master of martial arts.