CONJUNCTIONS

Welcome to this lecture headed “CONJUCTIONS”. We will be discussing all about conjunctions. Enjoy your lecture.

You can spend your life writing or speaking short sentences, but (and that’s a conjunction) if you want your English to flow a bit more naturally you are required to learn how to link sentences together and (another conjunction) you need a few linking words to do this.

Characteristically, a conjunction links two words, sentences or clauses together:although, and, because, but, if, or, so, unless, when, while …

There are two types of conjunction: coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

You can as well make use of conjunctions in pairs, these are known as correlatives.

Coordinating Conjunctions

A coordinating conjunction, as well known as a coordinator, connects parts of a sentence. This could be two independent (main) clauses, two noun phrases, adjectives, adverbials and so on of equivalent significance.

They are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so,

There’s a mnemonic for remembering them: FANBOYS.

For instance:-

It was cold. I wore a coat.

Both sentences are valid on their own, but they can be written so that they’re obviously connected; “It was cold, I wore a coat.”

The three most used coordinating conjunctions are and, or, and but.

The coordinating conjunction and normally expresses addition or combination.

For instance:-

I attended the meeting. + My friend attended the meeting. = My friend and I attended the meeting.

The coordinating conjunction “but” expresses a disparity.

We were tired. + We were happy. = We were tired but happy.

The coordinating conjunction or expresses choice.

For instance:-

Would you like tea? + Would you like coffee? = Would you like tea or coffee?

There are two negative coordinating conjunctions: neither and nor.

For instance:-

She spoke neither Igbo nor Hausa. (“nor” must always be part of the “neither … nor” construction).

Observe that nor, for, and so can only join independent clauses.

Some words are satisfied spending an evening at home, alone, eating ice-cream right out of the box, watching Seinfeld re-runs on TV, or reading a good book. Others aren’t happy unless they’re out on the town, mixing it up with other words; they’re joiners and they just can’t help themselves. A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects (conjoins) parts of a sentence.

Coordinating Conjunctions

The simple, little conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions 

Coordinating Conjunctions

and, but, or, yet, for, nor, so

It may assist you to recall these conjunctions by recalling that they all have fewer than four letters and as well through the acronym FANBOYS: For-And-Nor-But-Or-Yet-So as mentioned earlier. Be cautious of the words then and now; neither is a coordinating conjunction, thus what we mention about coordinating conjunctions’ roles in a sentence and punctuation does not apply to those two words.

When a coordinating conjunction links two independent clauses, it is frequently (but not always) followed by a comma:

Ugochi wants to study medicine, but he has had trouble meeting the academic requirements.

When the two independent clauses linked by a coordinating conjunction are properly balanced or brief, a lot of writers will omit the comma:

Joseph has a great jump shot but he isn’t quick on his feet.

The comma is at all times correct when used to break up two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction.

A comma is as well correct when and is utilized to attach the last item of a serial list, although a lot of writers (particularly in newspapers) will leave out that final comma:

Ikeji spent his summer holiday studying basic math, writing, and reading sciences.

When a coordinating conjunction is used to connect all the elements in a series, a comma is not used:

Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists are the common Protestant congregations in Delta State.

A comma is also used with but when expressing a contrast:

This is an essential rule, but difficult to remember.

In the majority of their other roles as linkers (other than linking independent clauses, that is), coordinating conjunctions can link two sentence elements without the assistance of a comma.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and Musa Yaradua are among the Nigerians ex-president.

Jonathan was renowned for his clear style and his insights into Nigerians notions of identity.

Among the coordinating conjunctions, the most frequently used, of course, are and, but, and or. It may be of assistance to discover the uses of these three little words. The examples below by no means exhaust the possible meanings of these conjunctions.

AND

To imply that one idea is chronologically sequential to another.

To imply that one idea is the result of another

To imply that one idea is in contrast to another (frequently replaced by but in this usage)

To imply an element of surprise (often times replaced by yet in this usage).

To imply that one clause is dependent upon another, provisionally (normally the first clause is an imperative)

To imply a kind of “comment” on the first clause:

BUT

To propose a contrast that is unexpected in light of the first clause: “Joey lost a fortune in the stock market, but he still seems able to live quite comfortably.”

To recommend in an affirmative sense what the first part of the sentence implied in a negative way (every so often replaced by on the contrary)

To link two ideas with the meaning of “with the exception of” (and subsequently the second word takes over as subject)

OR

To imply that only one possibility can be recognized, exclusive of one or the other

To propose the inclusive combination of alternatives.

To suggest a modification of the first clause.

To imply a restatement or “correction” of the first part of the sentence.

To imply a negative condition.

To imply a negative option without the use of an imperative

The conjunction

NOR

  is not wiped out, but it is not used almost as frequently as the other conjunctions, thus it might feel a bit odd when nor does come up in conversation or writing. Its most widespread use is as the little brother in the correlative pair, neither-nor.

He is neither rational nor bright.

That is neither what I said nor what I meant.

It can be used with other negative expressions:

That is not what I meant to say, nor should you understand my statement as admittance of guilt.

It is possible neither to use nor without a preceding negative element, but it is atypical and, to a degree, rather stifling.

The word 

YET

 acts as an adverb and has a lot of meanings: in addition (“yet another cause of trouble” or “a simple yet noble man”), even (“yet more expensive”), still (“he is yet a novice”), ultimately (“they may yet win”), and so soon as now (“he’s not here yet”). It also functions as a coordinating conjunction meaning something like “nevertheless” or “but.” The word yet appears to carry an element of uniqueness that but can rarely register.

John plays basketball well, yet his favorite sport is badminton.

The visitors complained loudly about the heat, yet they continued to play golf every day.

In sentences like the second one, above, the pronoun subject of the second clause (“they,” in this instance) is frequently left out. When that happens, the comma preceding the conjunction might as well disappear: “The visitors grumbled loudly yet continued to play football every day.”

Yet is oftentimes joined with other conjunctions, but or and. It would not be strange to see and yet in sentences like the ones above. This practice is acceptable.

The word 

FOR

 is most frequently used as a preposition but it does serve, on rare occasions as a coordinating conjunction. A few people regard the conjunction for as rather pretentious and literary, and it does tend to add a bit of weightiness to the text. Starting a sentence with the conjunction “for” is perhaps not a good idea, except when you’re singing like in the song “For he’s a jolly good fellow. “For” has serious chronological implications and in its utilization the order of thoughts is more than it is, say, with since or since. Its function is to introduce the reason for the preceding clause:

Ikenna thought he had a good chance to obtain the job, for his father was on the company’s board of trustees.

The majority of the visitors were happy just sitting around in the shade, for it had been a long, dusty journey on the train.

Be cautious of the conjunction 

SO

. Oftentimes it can link two independent clauses along with a comma, but occasionally it can’t. For instance, in this sentence,

Julian is not the only football player in his family, so are his brother, sister, and his Uncle Jude.

where the word so means “as well” or “in addition,” most careful writers would use a semicolon between the two independent clauses. In the following sentence, where so is acting like a minor-league “consequently,” the conjunction and the comma are equal to the task:

Soto has always been nervous in huge gatherings, so it is no surprise that he avoids crowds of his admiring fans.

From time to time, at the beginning of a sentence, so will act as a form of summing up device or transition, and when it does, it is frequently set off from the rest of the sentence with a comma:

So, the sheriff peremptorily removed the child from the supervision of his parents.

Subordinating Conjunctions

A subordinating conjunction, is as well known as a subordinator. It links a dependent / subordinate clause to a main verb. They are used to illustrate any relationship between them and they turn the clause into something that is dependent on the rest of the sentence for its meaning.

For instance:-

Because it was raining … makes no sense on its own.

We went skiing, because it was snowing. 

Subordinating conjunctions are: after, although, because, before, if, in case, so that, therefore, unless, when, while.

For instance:

Before you came here, you thought you comprehend English grammar.

We left the party when the police arrived.

The subordinate clause a few times comes at the beginning of a sentence.

A Subordinating Conjunction is also known as a dependent word. It comes at the beginning of a Subordinate (or Dependent) Clause and establishes the relationship between the dependent clause and the rest of the sentence. It as well turns the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. Eg.

He took to the stage as though he had been planning for this moment all his life.

Because he loved drama, he refused to let go of his dream of being a movie director.

Unless we act now, all is lost.

We have provided table with a few common subordinating conjunctions below: Observe that a few of the subordinating conjunctions in the table below — after, before, since — are as well prepositions, but as subordinators they are being utilized to introduce a clause and to subordinate the following clause to the independent element in the sentence.

Common Subordinating Conjunctions

after

although

as

as if

as long as

as though

because

before

even if

even though

if

if only

in order that

now that

once

rather than

since

so that

than

that

though

till

unless

until

when

whenever

where

whereas

wherever

while

Correlatives

Some conjunctions are used in pairs, they are called correlative conjunctions. They are used to show the relationship between ideas expressed in different parts of a sentence.

Most are coordinating correlatives.

They include:-

both … and

either … or

neither … nor

not only … but also

For instance:-

He was not only a rascal, but also a cruel man.

We use either…or together when we want to connect two positives:-

For instance:-

Either the president or the vice-president will go to the conference. This means that the president will go to the conference, or the vice-president will go, not both of them though.)

We make use of neither…nor together when we want to connect two negative ideas:-

For instance:-

Neither the principal nor the vice-principal was able to tackle the problem. (The president couldn’t tackle the problem and the vice-president couldn’t solve it either.)

A few are subordinating correlatives.

if … then

less … than

more … than 

so … that

For instance:-

She was so hungry that she could have eaten a horse.

Correlative conjunctions go in pairs to link words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. There are a lot of different pairs of correlative conjunctions:

either…or

not only…but (also)

may…but

neither…nor

both…and

whether…or

just as…so

the…the

as…as

as much…as

no sooner…than

rather…than.

Thanks for reaching to this point marking the end of this lecture.

Your Lecture Master:

Mst. Ugonwanne Joshua