dfoww
Part of Speech (POS)
Part 6
Conjunctions
Conjunctions join ideas and words together. There are many different kinds, but the two basic groups of conjunctions are coordinating and subordinating.
In the English language, conjunctions come in three basic types:
● The coordinating conjunction
● The subordinating conjunction
● The correlative conjunction
Coordinating conjunctions = are the most common one. The main function of coordinating conjunctions is to join words, phrases, and clauses together, which are usually grammatically equal.
Examples = and, but, for, nor, or, so, and yet
Sentence example: Blue refuses to eat dry dog food, *nor will he go near a bowl of cat food.
Subordinating conjunction = has two jobs. First it provides a necessary transition between the two ideas in a sentence. This transition will indicate a time, place, or cause and effect relationship.
Examples: After, although, as, because, rather than, since, so that, *where, etc.
Sentence example = We looked on top of the refrigerator, *where Lisa will often hide a bage of potato chips.
where = subordinating conjunction
The second job of the subordinating conjunction is to reduce the importance of one clause so that a reader understands which of the two ideas is more important.
Sentence example: As Jenny blew out the birthday candles on top of the cake, she burned the tip of her nose on the stubborn flame.
Burning her nose = the main clause
Blowing out candles = less important in the clause.
Correlative conjunction = as suggested by their name, correlative conjunctions correlate, working in pairs to join phrases or words that carry equal importance within a sentence.
Some correlative conjunctions =
● Rather / than
● Whether / or
● Just as /so
When using correlative conjunctions, ensure verbs agree so that your sentence makes sense.
Sentence Example : Every night, *either loud music *or fighting neighbors wake John from his sleep. (either/or)
When you use a correlation conjunction, you must be sure the pronoun agrees.
Example: Neither Kim nor Tina expressed her annoyance when the puppy knocked over the lamp.(neither/nor)
When using correlative conjunctions, be sure to keep parallel structure intact. Equal grammatical units need to be incorporated into the entire sentence. For example : Not only did Mary grill burgers for Michael, but she also fixed a steak for her dog Lucy. (Not only/but/also.
Conjunction adverb = parts of speech that are used to connect one clause to another. They are also used to show sequence, contrast, cause and effect, and other relationships.
Like other adverbs, conjunctive adverbs may be moved around in the sentence or clause in which they appear. This is just one of the things you’ll need to remember; additional rules for using conjunctive adverbs follow:
Always use a period or semicolon before the conjunctive adverb when separating two independent clauses. Conjunctive adverbs are not strong enough to join independent clauses without supporting punctuation.
Use a comma if a conjunction such as and, but, or, so appears between the conjunctive adverb and the first clause.
Use a comma behind conjunctive adverbs when they appear at the beginning of a sentence’s second clause. The only exception to this rule is that no comma is necessary if the adverb is a single syllable.
If a conjunctive adverb appears in the middle of a clause, it should be enclosed in commas most of the time. This is not an absolute rule and does not normally apply to short clauses.
Example:
● I like you a lot; in fact, I think we should be best friends.
● in fact =conjuntive adverb
You may begin a sentence with a conjunction, just make sure it’s not a sentence fragment.
Now it’s time for you to test your knowledge on conjunctions. Please complete the worksheet titled: conjunctions. You’ll find it on our website. Just click on dfoww.org menu button, then click worksheets button. There you will find the conjunction worksheet.
We hope you enjoyed this workshop!