What is Conjunction? Types of Conjunctions and Example Sentences
Table of Contents
Conjuctions
Conjunctions, a group of words like but, because, or, so, although, and though, are words used to bring other words and phrases together. Even though these words have no meaning on their own and their only meaning is in sentences, it would not be possible for us to construct complex or long sentences without conjunctions. Since it is not aesthetic to constantly make short sentences, art could not develop sufficiently.
Types of Conjunctions
- Coordinating Conjunctions
- Subordinating Conjunctions
- Correlative Conjunctions
- Conjunctive Adverbs
Here are 60 Most Common Conjunction List in English
Why Are Conjunctions Used?
Conjunctions, which take place in almost all long sentences, actually have two different purposes.
The first of these purposes is to bring together two different parts that are grammatically the same, and these two parts can be subordinate clauses or different words. E.g; “I bought a kilo of apples and pears from the grocery store.” “and” used in the sentence brings together two different word parts. However, “My son had finished his homework, but he didn’t go out because he didn’t want to play outside.” The “but” in the sentence brought together two different sentences.
Another important task of conjunctions is to connect a conditional subordinate clause with a different main clause. For example, “I didn’t go to buy dessert even though I wanted a lot of sweets.” “even though” used in the sentence connects two different sentences and these sentences are conditionally dependent on each other.
What are Coordination Conjunctions?
Coordinating conjunctions, which combine sentences with equal or similar grammatical properties, can also combine independent clauses with each other. We can easily see that the sentences joined by seven coordinating conjunctions are similar in structure:
- I love to drink tea, but my future husband does not like to drink tea at all.
- I love chocolate and strawberry.
Important Spelling Rules About Coordination Conjunctions
If you are using a coordinating conjunction, using a comma just before your conjunction will help you understand your sentence more clearly and better. However, if the sentences you connect with a conjunction are short and balanced sentences, it is not necessary to use a comma, your sentence will be understood in any way. Another thing you should pay attention to about using commas is that if your sentence has an “and” connector and you used this connector with the last item in a list, you can use a comma. Of course, you don’t have to use commas if you don’t want to, but if you do, you should remember that the sentence will be more understandable.
- His favorite fruits are tangerines, mangoes and strawberries.
- His favorite fruits are tangerines, mangoes, and strawberries.
What are Dependent Conjunctions?
Dependent conjunctions combine a dependent clause with an independent clause. What we need to understand here is that the connected sentences cannot exist on their own. For example, “I studied even though I was sick.” Let’s take the sentence. Someone says to you, “even though I’m sick.” you won’t understand anything but “I studied.” you will understand the lesson. The clause “although I am sick” here is a dependent clause. You can construct sentences with dependent conjunctions in two ways:
- Even though I was sick, I studied.
- I studied even though I was sick.
