Conjunctions

 

There are eight or nine (or more) parts of speech, depending on what you read.

Some authorities list nine parts of speech. Those authorities which list eight considerdeterminers (articles, quantifiers, etc) as adjectives. This site lists nine parts of speech.  

To determine what part of speech a particular word is it must be looked at in the contextof the sentence. Many words may be a different part of speech in different sentences.

Look at these examples.

Mr. Elliot feels well. (Adverb).

She is not a well woman. (Adjective)

Well! What happened. (Interjection)

He dropped his hat into a well. (Noun)

Conjunctions 

Conjunctions join words or groups of words together. The most commonly-recognizedconjunctions are:

‘and’, ‘or’, and ‘but’.

 

There are three types of conjunctions- coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.

Coordinating Conjunction

     Coordinating conjunctions (also called coordinators) join two independent clauses. There
      are seven coordinating conjunctions: An easy way to remember the coordinators is with
     the mnemonic device FAN BOYS.

for       and       nor       but       or       yet       so

Ms. Johnson never missed the weekly Historical Society meeting, for it was her onlychance to socialize with her friends.

Oscar dove into the lake and swam half way across it.

Defendants at trials do not have to testify, nor should they in many cases.

Mr. Lee was already extremely tired, but he continued working until well after midnight.

The students can take a test or they can write a paper.

I don’t really like oatmeal, yet I eat it everyday because it is good for my health.

Sam had completed the project, so he took the rest of the day off.

 

Subordinating Conjunction

      Subordinating conjunctions (also called subordinators) are words that join a dependent 
     clause to an independent clause. A subordinating conjunction may appear at the
     beginning of the sentence or between the dependent and independent clause.

Note the punctuation with the use of subordinating conjunctions. If the subordinating
conjunction and the dependent clause are at the beginning of the sentence, a comma
follows the dependent clause. No comma is used if the subordinating conjunction and the
dependent clause are at the end of the sentence.

After I study, I watch TV.

I watch TV after I study.

If I walk more than six miles at one time, my feet are always sore.

My feet are always sore if I walk more than six miles at one time.

Look at the partial list of subordinating conjunctions below. Note that each subordinatingconjunction can introduce specific functions or situations.

 

Subordinating Conjunctions

Time                 when             whenever           while              as soon as  
                          after              since                   as                  by the time that 
                          until               once                   before

Place               where             anywhere           wherever        everywhere

Manner            as                  as if                     as though

Reason            because         as                       since              in as much as

Purpose          so that             in order              that may          that might    
                         can/could        will                      would have to 

Concession    although          though                even though

Contrast          while               whereas

Distance          as + adverb + as

Result              so + adjective + that

 

 Correlative Conjunction

      Correlative conjunctions are pairs of coordinating conjunctions that work together to join     
      two similar or contrasting thoughts together. The correlative conjunctions are:

both… and           not only… but also           either… or           neither… nor

The Democratic Party in America is committed to higher taxes for both bigbusiness and the wealthy.

Cheetahs are not only fast but also powerful.

If a person is attempting to lose weight they should neither eatexcessively nor avoid exercise.

A popular axiom is ‘You are either with us, or against us’.