Welcome to my new blog post on conjunctions

We’ve talked about other parts of speech in my other posts; trust you all have checked them out. Please refer to my other posts here to have a better understanding of the other parts of speech… I have talked about nouns, pronouns, adverbs, adjectives and prepositions. They’re all exciting, inspiring and educating, just as this one promises to be. So let’s begin!

What are conjunctions?

When do we use conjunctions?

Why do we use conjunctions?

What are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are a word that joins/connects two or more words, or sentences together. They give more information, reasons or unexpected results and also link words or phrases.

How conjunctions are used to join WORDS together

Examples:

John and Peter are singing

How conjunctions are also used to join SENTENCES together

Example:

1. John brought her phone. Peter brought his phone

John and Peter brought their phones

2. The man is rich. The man is stingy

The man is rich but stingy

Examples of conjunctions

1. I drank some water for I was very thirsty
2. I went to school with my phone and book
3. She can’t read nor write
4. I ate all the food but am still hungry
5. Will you eat bread or rice?
6. I ate quickly yet I finished late
7. She annoyed me so I beat her

These represents an acronym FANBOYS

There are other examples of conjunctions. The ones mentioned above are just the commonly used ones.

Types of conjunctions

1. Coordinating conjunctions
2. Subordinating conjunctions
3. Correlative conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

For, and, nor, but, or, yet, so,

F.A.N.B.O.Y.S

Subordinating Conjunctions

Comparison                         Time                      Concession

Than                                            until                        although

Whether                                     whenever               even though

As much as                               after                         though

Whereas                                    now that

Relative pronouns           Reason                  Condition   

Whenever                                  because                   unless

Whomever                              so that                       if

Who                                         as                              assuming that

Whoever                                since                          only if

Place                               relative adjectives          manner

Wherever                            whichever                           as though

Where                                   whatever                             how

Correlative Conjunctions

Either… or

The boy likes either rice or beans

Neither…nor

I want neither of the two books

Whether…or

Do you know whether we have beans or yam for lunch?

 Both…and

My company deals with both writing and publishing

Now let’s practice!

Identify the conjunctions in the sentence below

1. John saw the snake and killed it
2. She’s very lazy but intelligent
3. I am very hungry but too busy to eat
4. The landlord was here on time so I couldn’t leave the house
5. Either the blue or red dress will suit you
6. The visitor drank neither juice nor water
7. She can sew very well but she doesn’t have a sewing machine
8. That red bad is very costly so be careful with it
9. We have bread for morning food
10. She studied hard yet she failed her exams

Let’s practice more

Join the words and sentences together

1. The red dress is fine. It won’t fit you
2. She has two bags. She has a book
3. Peter ate rice. Peter not beans
4. She was crying. I gave her money
5. The man is rich. The man is stingy
6. John burnt his midnight candles. He failed the exam
7. The bread is not sweet. The biscuit is not sweet
8. My mother cooked a delicious meal. Lunch
9. The school was on holiday. She came back
10. The article was good. She published it

Answers

1. The red dress is fine but it won’t fit you
2. She has two bags and a book
3. Peter ate either rice or beans
4. She was crying so I gave her money
5. The man is rich but stingy
6. John burnt his midnight candles yet failed the exam
7. Neither the bread nor the biscuit is sweet
8. My mother cooked a delicious meal for lunch
9. The school was on holiday so she came back
10. The article was good so she published it

Note:

The conjunction ‘and’ is used for joining words or sentences that are have ideas

Example:

James is walking. John is walking

James and john are walking

Mirian bought food.  Vivian bought drinks

Mirian and Vivian bought food and drinks

The conjunction ‘or’ is used to join words or sentences to deals with choice

She likes to read. She likes to write

She likes to read or write

She enjoys watching movies. She enjoys playing games

She enjoys watching movies or playing games

The conjunction ‘although’ and ‘although’ are used to join sentences that shows contrast between ideas

She came home late. She went to the kitchen to cook

Although she came home late, she went to the kitchen to cook

She was sick. She still went to school

Though she was sick, she still went to school

The conjunction ‘but’ is used to join words or sentences that have opposite ideas

She ate the food. She was still hungry

She ate the food, but she was still hungry

She read the novel. She didn’t understand it

She read the novel, but she didn’t understand it

The conjunction ‘because’ is used to join sentences to show reason

She didn’t go to school. She was sick

She didn’t go to school because she was sick

Her mother flogged her. She stole the meat

Her mother flogged her because she stole the meat

The conjunction ‘so’ is used to join sentences to show purposes

Take the umbrella. You won’t get wet by the rain

Take the umbrella so you won’t get wet by the rain

Wash your clothes. You won’t look dirty

Wash your clothes so you won’t look dirty

There are other examples of conjunctions which can also be used the same way as those stated above

They are: since, as, after, before, and when

I trust you all understood this all…

Okay! Let practice

Identify the conjunctions in the following sentences

1. I came here because I wanted to see you
2. Write down the note so you won’t forget it
3. James and John are singing
4. she ate the food since she was hungry
5. as she didn’t see her, she came back home
6. I will see you before I leave
7. Make sure you send it after work
8. I saw her when she left
9. She got the job after the interview
10. It’s been long since she left

Answer

1. I came here because I wanted to see you
2. Write down the note so you won’t forget it
3. James and John are singing
4. she ate the food since she was hungry
5. as she didn’t see her, she came back home
6. I will see you before I leave
7. Make sure you send it after work
8. I saw her when she left
9. She got the job after the interview
10. It’s been long since she left

Let’s do more!

Join the two sentences together with a conjunction

1. She came in. knocking
2. She went home. Work
3. Send me the file. Work
4. I was hungry. I cooked
5. The company shut down. There was no productions
6. She wasn’t using the laptop. I took it from her
7. It was raining. I took the umbrella
8. I went to the party. She invited me
9. The dress was tight. It tore
10. I was going to the market. I saw her on the way

Answers

1. She came in after knocking
2. She went home after work
3. Send me the file before work today
4. I was hungry so I cooked
5. The company shut down since there was no productions
6. She wasn’t using the laptop so I took it from her
7. It was raining so I took the umbrella
8. I went to the party because she invited me
9. The dress was tight so It tore
10. I was going to the market when I saw her on the way

Now practice this

1. She was eating. She was hungry
2. She cut the cake. she didn’t eat it
3. I came here because I wanted to see you
4. She walked home since she couldn’t get a cab
5. The book was torn so she couldn’t see most of the words
6. Paul and peter are running home

Thanks for this lesson and for reading my article on conjunctions and I know it was really helpful to you. In our next lesson, we will talk about interjections… till then, Goodbye!

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