Conjunctions
Conjunctions connect words, phrases or sentences. The two types of conjunctions are co-ordinating and subordinating.
Co-ordinating Conjunctions
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Words
- tea or coffee
- apples and pears
Phrase
A phrase is a group of words that gives a brief information. It contains a subject or a verb but not both.
- the red car and the green van .
- exit in or exit out
Sentences
A sentence contains a verb and a subject. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop.
- I can dance and sing at the same time.
- Jane can pick a red ribbon or a gold crown.
- He can swim but not dive
- He does not like reading nor does he like writing.
- She likes chocolate yet hates chocolate drinks.
Subordinating Conjunctions
A subordinating conjuction connects a sentence with more information. A subordinate conjunction comes at the front of a subordinate clause.
A subordinate clause (dependent) contains a subject and a verb but does not make any sense on its own. It has to be connected to a main clause (independent) to make sense.
Example
subordinate clause - before she left home
main clause - Jane cooked the dinner.
main clause plus subordinate clause -Jane cooked the dinner before she left home.
The subordinate clause does not make any sense on its own but when connected to the main clause it makes more sense. Before is the subordinate conjunction that connects the subordinate clause with the main clause.
The table below shows some subordinate conjunctions.
| Subordinate Conjunctions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unless | when | whenever | than | before | because | although |
| however | since | once | after | as | until | while |
More Examples!
- He likes to sing (main clause) when he is running (subordinate clause).
- She looked forward to eating the bar of chocolate (main clause) after she had dinner (subordinate clause).
- She was told to stay in her room (main clause) until she finished her homework (subordinate clause).