Handout 8

Subordinators
Subordinators are linking words that are used to join clauses together. They are used
at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. A clause is a group of words that
must contain a subject and predicate. There are two types of clauses:

independent clauses - these can stand alone as a sentence by themselves

dependent clauses - these make no sense by themselves.

Example

Common subordinators
Below are some examples of commonly used subordinators.
Comparison &
Contrast

Although
Though
Even though
While
Whereas

Possibility
if
as if
whether
unless
As far as
As soon as
As though
Even if
Supposing
(that)

Cause / effect

Since
So that
Because
Inasmuch as

Place & manner

Wherever
Where
How

Time

After
When
Until
Whenever
Before
once

Exercise 1: Subordination
1. I had to hand the project over to Max. You didnt respond to any of my e-mails.
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2. Another candidate with more qualifications applies in the next forty-eight hours.
You should get the position without any difficulties.
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3. Viktor had prepared and practiced for the presentation thoroughly. The projector
died and the presentation was not successful.
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4. Keep calling our customers from last year. You make your sales quota.
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5. The instructor copies his lesson directly from the textbook. The students lose
interest and doze off.
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