Scribd
Upload
138 views

What Is A Coordinating Conjunction?

This document defines and provides examples of different types of conjunctions in English: - Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank, such as and, but, or. There are pure coordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs. - Pure conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses, while conjunctive adverbs only connect clauses. Common pure conjunctions are and, or, but, nor. Common conjunctive adverbs are so, hence, however, moreover, accordingly. - Subordinating conjunctions connect subordinate clauses to independent clauses and introduce elements like time (when), place (where), condition (if). Common subordinating conjunctions

Uploaded by

Tâm Edgi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
138 views

What Is A Coordinating Conjunction?

This document defines and provides examples of different types of conjunctions in English: - Coordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank, such as and, but, or. There are pure coordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs. - Pure conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses, while conjunctive adverbs only connect clauses. Common pure conjunctions are and, or, but, nor. Common conjunctive adverbs are so, hence, however, moreover, accordingly. - Subordinating conjunctions connect subordinate clauses to independent clauses and introduce elements like time (when), place (where), condition (if). Common subordinating conjunctions

Uploaded by

Tâm Edgi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 6

What is a Coordinating Conjunction?

(a) She yelled and I came.


(b) He waved but I did not come.
(c) You must find a job or go to school.
(d) John and I played video games.
(e) We drove over the overpass and down a hill.
In the sentences above, notice that the connecting words and, but, and or are
performing the same duty. For instance, in (a), (b), and (c) the clauses are
both independent; in (d) "John and I" both act as subjects of played; in
(e), over the overpass and down a hill are adverbial phrases of the same rank.
Conjunctions that connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank are
called coordinating conjunctions.Coordinating means putting in the
same rank.
English has two types of coordinating conjunctions: pure
conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs.

What are Pure Conjunctions?


Pure conjunctions connect words, phrases,
or clauses; conjunctive adverbsserve to
connect only clauses.
The primary conjunctions are:
and or
but nor
And is sometimes linked with botheither with or; and neither with nor.
Examples of pure conjunctions used to connect clauses:

EX. Come here and I will show you.


EX. He said he returned the item, but I know he was lying.
EX. They must learn the rules or they will fail.
EX. Either Laura is wrong, or I am.
EX. Se is not wrong, nor am I.
Examples of pure conjunctions used to connect phrases:
EX. My sister owed money to my mother and to her friend.
EX. You owe an apology, not to John, but to me.
Examples of pure conjunctions used to connect words:
EX. They gave the soccer team medals in honor of good sportsmanship to
Becky and Jenny.
EX. The nurse or the doctor will answer your questions.
EX. He wants neither Santa Clause nor the
Easter Bunny.

What is a Conjunctive Adverb?


Conjunctive adverbs serve to connect only
clauses. The primary conjunctive adverbs are:
so hence nevertheless
however moreover accordingly
besides thus yet
then still furthermore
Examples of the conjunctive adverb connecting the clauses of
compound sentences:

EX. It was becoming cold; so I shut the windows.


EX. She was ill; hence she could not play.
EX. The beach was crowded; nevertheless, we found a spot close to the
ocean.
EX. I felt he was being greedy; however, since he insisted, I gave him the
money.
EX. Becky doesn't know how to speak Spanish; moreover, she does not
know how to translate text.
EX. The director told us to be quiet; accordingly, we crept down the
stairway and found a seat.
EX. That car is ugly; besides, it is not large enough for a family.
EX. Timothy opened a bank account; thus he hoped to pay off his debt.
EX. She is a careful driver; yet I always feel nervous in her car.
EX. I prefer not to change jobs; still, I might have to.
EX. He stared at me in anger; then he turned and left me.
NOTE You can use a comma to separate the second clause of a compound
sentence connected by and from the first clause. But you cannot use a comma
to separate the second clause of a compound sentence introduced by a
conjunctive adverb from the first clause. Instead, you can use a semicolon (;)
to separate a clause in a compound sentence introduced by a conjunctive
adverb.

What are Interjections?


In the sentence, Oh, this will never do! the word Oh, expresses a feeling in the
sentence. It does not connect grammatically with any part of the sentence, but
it bears a relationship to the sentence as a whole. It is a word thrown in and is
called the interjection.

An interjection is a word that expresses


sudden or strong feeling.
Examples of the interjection are:
EX. Pshaw! I am very disappointed in you.
EX. Alas! He made it home after ten years at
sea.
EX. "Ah!" breathed the crowd.
EX. Hurrah! We've won the game!
EX. Good work! That's excellent bowling!
EX. Have mercy on Thy people, O Lord!
Proper punctuation with interjections
When we use an interjection as a real exclamation, we follow it with an
exclamation point. If, however, we use it as a mild, or rhetorical, exclamation,
then we follow it with a comma.
Examples:
EX. Oh, to be sure, that is probably true.
EX. Mercy! What a scare that sound gave me!
EX. Hurrah! hurrah! We scored!
EX. Hail! holy light, shower down upon me from Heaven.
EX. O God in heaven! Fill my life with vivid light!
NOTE We use the capital O (without a comma) to refer to some object in
awe or admiration or reverence. This is calledapostrophe. Oh is used as a

vocative or mild exclamation. Since apostrophe is a poetic figure of speech, we


usually see the capital O mostly in poetry, while we see the more
common Oh both in prose and in poetry.

What are Subordinating Conjunctions?


Conjunctions that connect subordinate clauses
with independent clauses are
calledsubordinating conjunctions. Subordinat
ing means putting in a lower rank. You have
already seen the subordinating conjunction at
work introducing adverbial and adjective
clauses.
EX. I shall come when I feel better.
EX. Brian will attend if he is invited.
EX. Put the baseballs where other players can find them.
Noticed the connecting nature of the words, when, if, and where. They
introduce subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause is one which
depends on another independent clause.
The primary subordinating conjunctions are:
when where if
although though whether
lest unless that
because than as
since while after
EX. I told him that I would go.
EX. He carried the wood longer than I did.
EX. Will you find out whether or not your sister is coming?
EX. Put this where others can find it.
EX. I will go, although I will need to leave early.

EX. He waited because he was patient.


EX. There is no happiness where evil exists.
EX. Sumit your resume if you want the job.
Remember: the conjunction connects; the plain adverb directly modifies a
verb, adjective, or other adverb.
Subordinating conjunction: I will go where you go.
Plain adverb: Where are you going?
Subordinating conjunction: I planned a
party, since it will make you happy.

You might also like