WHAT IS A SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTION?

Let’s start with subordinating conjunctions. These are words that begin dependent
clauses. You will easily recognize some of the most common ones:
 While

 Because

 When

 Although

 Despite
 There are many more, but those are just a few of the most common subordinating
conjunctions. They begin dependent clauses, which mean that these clauses must
be attached to independent clauses:

We were hungry because we had been hiking all morning.

Independent clause Dependent clause

In this example, we have two clauses. The dependent clause begins with the
subordinating conjunction “because.”

SENTENCE FRAGMENTS
The important thing to know about dependent clauses is that they cannot function as
a sentence without being attached to an independent clause. If you do that, it is
called a sentence fragment, and it is a pretty big grammatical error. You should avoid
this in IELTS writing.
The easy way to check for this error is to see whether a sentence begins with a
subordinating conjunction and then ask whether or not there is an independent
clause:

 Despite the obvious health risks.

This sentence is not a good one. It is a sentence fragment, which means we need to
add an independent clause in order to fix it:

 Despite the obvious health risks, many people continue to smoke cigarettes.

 Many people continue to smoke cigarettes despite the obvious health risks.

Note that we can use these two clauses with either the dependent clause first or the
independent clause first.

WHAT IS A CONJUNCTIVE ADVERB?

Conjunctive adverbs (sometimes called “adverbial conjunctions”) are words or
phrases that begin an independent clause and connect it to another clause. They
follow a full stop or semi-colon and are followed by a comma. These are also very
common words that include:

 However
 Therefore

 Meanwhile

 Consequently

 Furthermore

We can use these words in different ways but they always begin an independent
clause:

He was really frustrated; however, he kept his temper.

The enemy advanced on the Meanwhile, the citizens prepared to defend their
city. homes.

Independent clause Independent clause

In both of these examples, there are two independent clauses. In the first, they are
part of one sentence and in the second they are divided into two sentences. We can
join them into one sentence only if the meaning is really clear and they are closely
related.

It is worth noting that there are different types of conjunctive adverb and that you
should not mix them up in terms of meaning. Here is a list of conjunctive adverbs:

COMMA SPLICE
 Importantly, conjunctive adverbs follow semi-colons and full stops (periods). One of
the most common grammatical errors among IELTS candidates is splitting two
independent clauses with just a comma. This is called a comma splice. Sometimes it
happens with a conjunctive adverb:
 The students had been misbehaving, therefore the principal cancelled the school
play.
 The students had been misbehaving; therefore, the principal cancelled the school
play.

 The students had been misbehaving. Therefore, the principal cancelled the school
play.

Notice the change in punctuation here. We can fix this mistake by adding either a
semi-colon or a full-stop and then putting a comma after the conjunctive adverb.
Note: Some of these words can be used in a slightly different way. They can be
inserted into the middle of an independent clause and the punctuation will be
different as a result:
 He wondered, however, whether it was such a good idea to solicit opinions from
uninformed people.

In this case, the word is not beginning an independent clause and is merely inserted
into the middle of it, separated by commas. It serves a quite different function from
our usual method.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTIONS AND CONJUNCTIVE ADVERBS
The difference between subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs is that
subordinating conjunctions begin dependent clauses and conjunctive adverbs begin
independent ones.

When you remember that, it is not very difficult to use them correctly. However, it can
be easy to forget this because there are many of each type. As such, it is quite
common for people to confuse subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs
like this:

The pupils were unhappy about the new rules. Although, the teacher did not listen
to their complaints.

The problem here is that we have mixed up “Although” and “However.” These words
have quite similar meanings but they are used very differently. The sentence should
have read:

The pupils were unhappy about the new rules. However, the teacher did not listen
to their complaints.

To use “Although,” we would need to figure out which of these clauses could
realistically become a dependent clause. Either of them could technically be
dependent, but it is more likely that we could do it with the first clause:

Although the pupils were unhappy about the new rules, the teacher did not listen
to their complaints.

This is grammatically correct and logical.

It is also quite common that people use these words in basically the correct way, but
then confuse some aspect of the punctuation. To re-use the above example, people
often put a comma after “Although” by mistaking it for a conjunctive adverb:

Although, the pupils were unhappy about the new rules, the teacher did not listen
to their complaints.
This is simply not correct and we need to remember that “Although” is a
subordinating conjunction and thus should not be followed by a comma.
CONCLUSION
Subordinating conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs are both cohesive devices but
they are different parts of speech and thus they are used differently in sentences.
The rules for their use are actually quite simple. Mainly, you should remember this
one rule:
Subordinating conjunctions begin dependent clauses and conjunctive adverbs
begin independent clauses.

Once you can remember that, it will become much easier to get the rest correct