Thursday, January 6, 2011

Conjunctions

A conjunction is a word that "joins". A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.
Here are some example conjunctions:
Coordinating ConjunctionsSubordinating Conjunctions
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, soalthough, because, since, unless
We can consider conjunctions from three aspects.

Form

Conjunctions have three basic forms:
  • Single Word
    for example: and, but, because, although
  • Compound (often ending with as or that)
    for example: provided that, as long as, in order that
  • Correlative (surrounding an adverb or adjective)
    for example: so...that

Function

Conjunctions have two basic functions or "jobs":
  • Coordinating conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
    Jack and Jill went up the hill.
    The water was warm, but I didn't go swimming.
  • Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause, for example:
    I went swimming although it was cold.

Position

  • Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.
  • Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.


By,
Teacher Ruby

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