conjunction
OTHER WORDS FOR conjunction
Origin of conjunction
OTHER WORDS FROM conjunction
con·junc·tion·al, adjectivecon·junc·tion·al·ly, adverbnon·con·junc·tion, nounWords nearby conjunction
MORE ABOUT CONJUNCTION
What is a conjunction?
A conjunction is a member of a group of words that we use to connect words, clauses, phrases, or sentences.
Conjunctions act as connectors in sentences. They link ideas together to form more complex sentences. In English, there are three main categories of conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions connect similar things together, such as nouns with nouns, verbs with verbs, and adjectives with adjectives. And, but, and or are the three most commonly used coordinating conjunctions, as in I bought shoes and socks.
Subordinating conjunctions connect dependent (or subordinate) clauses to independent clauses. Dependent clauses are not complete sentences, so cannot be used alone. They need a conjunction to attach them to an independent clause. Because, after, when, and if are examples of subordinating conjunctions, as in If you are going outside, take your jacket with you.
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together to make a comparison or a contrast, such as either … or, neither … nor, and not only … but also. Sometimes, only the first of the pair is used and the second is understood, as in These shirts are both ugly, so I am going to wear neither (this one nor that one).
Why is conjunction important?
The first records of the word conjunction come from around 1350. It ultimately comes from the Latin verb conjungere, meaning to join together.
Conjunctions are used in many languages, including ancient languages like Latin.
English learners are often taught not to begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions such as and or but because it can lead to incomplete sentences, especially with young students. However, this is merely a writing preference and you can create grammatical sentences that start with a coordinating conjunction, as in But to the surprise of my teacher, I passed the test easily.
Did you know … ?
A common mnemonic device used to remember the seven coordinating conjunctions is FANBOYS, which stands for for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.
What are real-life examples of conjunctions?
This chart lists some of the most commonly used subordinating conjunctions:
Coonwriting.com
Conjunctions are taught fairly early on in a student’s study of English.
Learning about conjunctions with Daughter (7), with a worksheet sent from school.
Me: Here's another example: would you like ice cream *or* some chocolate?
Daughter: Both!— Dr Nicholas Jackson (@njj4) January 20, 2021
So many people sharing good news this morning. And the sun's shining. And I just started two sentences with conjunctions, and I don't care.
— Gareth L Powell (@garethlpowell) March 11, 2016
What other words are related to conjunction?
Quiz yourself!
True or False?
Conjunctions act as connections between sentences.
How to use conjunction in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for conjunction
- the position of any two bodies that appear to meet, such as two celestial bodies on the celestial sphere
- Also called: solar conjunction the position of a planet or the moon when it is in line with the sun as seen from the earth. The inner planets are in inferior conjunction when the planet is between the earth and the sun and in superior conjunction when the sun lies between the earth and the planetCompare opposition (def. 8a)
- the operator that forms a compound sentence from two given sentences, and corresponds to the English and
- a sentence so formed. Usually written p&q, p∧q, or p.q., where p,q are the component sentences, it is true only when both these are true
- the relation between such sentences
Derived forms of conjunction
conjunctional, adjectiveconjunctionally, adverbScientific definitions for conjunction
Cultural definitions for conjunction
A word that joins words or groups of words. There are three kinds of conjunctions: coordinating, correlative, and subordinating. Coordinating conjunctions include and, but, or, not, yet, for, and so. Correlative conjunctions include the words in the pairs either/or, both/and, and neither/nor. Subordinating conjunctions begin subordinate clauses (see subordination) and join them to the rest of the sentence: “She didn't learn the real reason until she left the valley.”