Conjunctions And Their Uses

Conjunctions are words that have important function for constructing sentences. Using different conjunctions in a sentence can give different meaning. So, it is important to us to use the correct conjunction. To choose the correct one, we must know their correct use and how to use them in sentence.

Therefore, in this section we will study about some conjunctions and their correct use. To make it easier, we will clasify conjunctions according to their type. In general, there are three types of conjunctions. They are the coordinating conjunctions, the subordinating conjunctions, and correlative conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are words that are used to link two words or phrases that are equally important and they complete each other. In general, there are seven coordinating conjunctions. We can call them "FANBOYS" to memorize them.

Fanboys	Function	Example
For	Reason	I go to my grandmother's home, for I miss her so much.
And	Add equal thing	Before sleeping, I close the door and wash my face.
Nor	Alternative	He is neither rich nor wise.
But	Contrast	He's been doing his homework all night long, but he looks fresh.
Or	Alternative	You may choose this book or that one.
Yet	Contrast	I love chocolate, yet I do not eat chocolate ice cream.
So	Consequence	She did her homework well, so now she get A.

Subordinating Conjunctions 

Subordinating conjunctions are words that are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a main clause. Subordinating conjunctions are the most difficult to recognized, but we can master them by example. They usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.

Conjunction	Example
After	You'll know the truth after you've tried this.
Although	Although She has work hard, she didn't get A in math.
As	As I go to the village, I bring a reading book to my nephew.
As long as	She doesn't care who you are as long as you love her.
Because	I got A in Math because I've studied hard.
Before	Before you go, please close the window.
If	If you go now, you won't get the part.
Even if	Even if you cry in front of me, I won't forgive you.
Since	Since her mom died, She becomes so moody.
Once	Once you go, you can't back.

Other subordinating conjunctions : though, until, when, where, while, now that, etc.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs. We can use them to constructing sentences. As they come in pairs, we have to use both of them in different places in a sentence to make them work. 

Conjunction	Example
Either ... or	I want either the blue shirt or the red one.
Neither ... nor	I want neither the blue shirt nor the red one. I want the black one.
Wheter ... or	I didn't know wheter you'd want the red pen or the blue one, so I got you both.
Both ... and	I'll buy both the blue shirt and the red one.
Not ... but	I got A in Math because I've studied hard.
Not only ... but also	We need them both, not only a thick paper but also a soft one.
As ... as	Watching movies isn't as fun as listening to the music.
Rather ... than	He'd rather play football than go fishing.