Conjunction
Introduction
Conjunctions are linking words.
Coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions include: and, or, but. They join two items which are grammatically similar—single words, phrases or complete clauses.
- wordTea or wordcoffee?
- We talked to phrasethe Vice Chancellor of the University and phrasesome lecturers from the School of Economics.
- clauseI called him but clausehe didn’t answer.
Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions include: after, although, as, because, before, even though, if, once, since, so long as, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas, wherever, while.
They start subordinate clauses. To form a complete sentence, there must be a main clause as well.
- subordinate clauseAfter I called him, main clausehe sent me an email.
- subordinate clauseAlthough it was rather expensive, main clausethey decided to stay the night.
- main clauseYou should visit the zoo subordinate clauseunless you’ve been there before.
👉 See also Examples of linking words