Conjunction

In grammar, a conjunction (abbreviated CONJ or CNJ) is a part of speech that connects two
words, sentences, phrases or clauses together. This definition may overlap with that of other
parts of speech, so what constitutes a "conjunction" should be defined for each language. In
general, a conjunction is an invariable grammatical particle, and it may or may not stand between
the items it conjoins.

The definition can also be extended to idiomatic phrases that behave as a unit with the same
function as a single-word conjunction (as well as, provided that, etc.).

Contents
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 1 Coordinating conjunctions
 2 Correlative conjunctions
 3 Subordinating conjunctions
 4 See also
 5 References

[edit] Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that join two or more items
of equal syntactic importance, such as words, main clauses, or sentences. In English the
mnemonic acronym FANBOYS can be used to remember the coordinators for, and, nor, but, or,
yet, and so.[1][2] These are not the only coordinating conjunctions; various others are used,
including[3]:ch. 9[4]:p. 171 "and nor" (British), "but nor" (British), "or nor"(British), "neither" ("They
don't gamble; neither do they smoke"), "no more" ("They don't gamble; no more do they
smoke"), and "only" ("Can we perform? Only if we practice").

Here are the meanings and some examples of the FANBOYS coordinating conjunctions in
English:

 for: presents a reason ("He is gambling with his health, for he has been smoking far too
long.") (though "for" is more commonly used as a preposition)
 and: presents non-contrasting item(s) or idea(s) ("They gamble, and they smoke.")
 nor: presents a non-contrasting negative idea ("They don't gamble, nor do they smoke.")
 but: presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, but they don't smoke.")
 or: presents an alternate item or idea ("Every day they gamble, or they smoke.")
 yet: presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, yet they don't smoke.")
 so: presents a consequence ("He gambled well last night, so he smoked a cigar to
celebrate.")
[edit] Correlative conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together to coordinate two items.
English examples include both…and, [n]either…[n]or, and not [only]…but [also], whether... or.

Examples:

 Either do your work or prepare for a trip to the office.

 Not only is he handsome but he is also brilliant.
 Neither the basketball team nor the football team is doing well.
 Both the cross country team and the swimming team are doing well.
 Whether you stay or go is your decision.

[edit] Subordinating conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions, also called subordinators, are conjunctions that introduce a
dependent clause. The most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language include
the following: after, although, as much as, as long as, as soon as, because, before, if, in order
that, lest, since, so that, than, that, though, unless, until, when, whenever, where, wherever,
whether, and while. Complementizers can be considered to be special subordinating conjunctions
that introduce complement clauses (e.g., "I wonder whether he'll be late. I hope that he'll be on
time"). Some subordinating conjunctions (until, while), when used to introduce a phrase instead
of a full clause, become prepositions with identical meanings.

In many verb-final languages, subordinate clauses must precede the main clause on which they
depend. the conjunction comes from the Latin root to intervene. The equivalents to the
subordinating conjunctions of non-verb-final languages such as English are either

 clause-final conjunctions (e.g. in Japanese), or

 suffixes attached to the verb and not separate words[5]

Such languages in fact often lack conjunctions as a part of speech because:

1. the form of the verb used is formally nominalised and cannot occur in an independent
clause
2. the clause-final conjunction or suffix attached to the verb is actually formally a marker of
case and is also used on nouns to indicate certain functions. In this sense, the subordinate
clauses of these languages have much in common with postpositional phrases.

In other West-Germanic languages like German or Dutch, the word order after a subordinating
conjunction is different from the one in an independent clause, e.g. in Dutch want (for) is
coordinating, but omdat (because) is subordinating. Compare:

Hij gaat naar huis, want hij is ziek. – He goes home, for he is ill.
Hij gaat naar huis, omdat hij ziek is. – He goes home because he is ill.
Similarly, in German, "denn" (for) is coordinating, but "weil" (because) is subordating:

Er geht nach Hause, denn er ist krank. – He goes home, for he is ill.
Er geht nach Hause, weil er krank ist. – He goes home because he is ill.