What are conjunctions in English?

In English, conjunctions are connecting words.

• They can connect two words or phrases or that do the same job in a sentence

  • I like to eat apples and bananas.

  • On Friday, we will go to the movies and eat popcorn.

  • We will play video games and you can cook dinner.

• They can introduce a clause and show how it connects to another part of the same sentence.

  • Because I was hungry, I ate lunch early.

  • We knew that he would be late.

  • I arrived after Thomas did.

In this post, we’ll go over the different types and uses of conjunctions in English and direct you to some resources where you can learn more. Ready to go? Let’s have a look!

Coordinating conjunctions are words like and, or, and but that connect words, phrases, or clauses that do the same job in the sentence:

When we use coordinating conjunctions, we are connecting two words, phrases, or clauses that are equal.

In English, a subordinating conjunction is used at the beginning of a subordinate clause (or "dependent clause"). The subordinating conjunction you use will tell you how that clause connects to the rest of the sentence.

A subordinate clause (or dependent clause) is a clause with a subject and a verb that is used to complete or provide more information about a larger sentence. For example:

• Evan told Janice that he was leaving early.

  → The subordinate clause completes the sentence.

• Evan left early because he was feeling sick.

  → The subordinate clause adds more information about the reason Evan left.

There are a few different kinds of subordinate clauses in English. The subordinating conjunction will depend on the type of clause you are introducing:

• Adverbial clauses provide extra or additional information about the action or situation that is taking place in a sentence.

  • Because Evan left early, his class was canceled.

    → adds information about the reason the class was canceled

  • Janice stayed at school after Evan left.

    → adds information about the time Janice stayed at school

  • Evan stayed home so that he could recover.

    → adds information about Evan’s purpose

  You can learn about adverbial clauses from the following posts:

  • How to talk about why something happened in English?

  • Conjunctions of time: What are they and how to use them in English?

• Object clauses act like the object of a verb.

  Janice asked whether he was sick.

  → The subordinate clause is the object of asked.

  You can learn about object clauses from the following posts:

  • Reported speech: How to say what someone said in English?

  • How to express hopes and desires in English?

  • How to express regret in English?

• Conditional clauses explain a situation that produces to a result.

  Evan will return to school if he feels better tomorrow.

  → Before Evan can return, he must feel better.

  Learn more about conditional clauses in our post on conditional sentences in English.

• Relative clauses describe a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase.

  Janice is the teacher who teaches gym.

  → The subordinate clause describes the teacher.

  The word that introduces a relative clause is both a pronoun and a conjunction! Learn more from our post on relative clauses in English.

• Noun clauses replace a noun in a sentence:

  Evan eats whatever he wants when he is home sick.

  The word that introduces a noun clause is also both a pronoun and a conjunction! Learn more from our post on interrogative words in English.

A compound conjunction in English is a conjunction that is made of more than one word, used as a chunk. Some common compound conjunctions in English include:

A correlative conjunction in English is a conjunction that is made of two parts that are separated in the sentence but they work together. For example:

Some common correlative conjunctions in English include:

And more!

A conjunctive adverb in English is used to connect one sentence to another sentence. For example:

• Evan planned to come back to work the next day. However, when he woke up the next morning, he was still sick.

• By Thursday, Evan was feeling better. Therefore, he returned to work.

Conjunctive adverbs are very common in writing and formal speech, because they can help you connect long ideas together clearly. Sometimes they can sound a little formal. Here are some common conjunctive adverbs in English:

Like conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs can help you connect ideas. However, they are technically , not conjunctions because (a) they connect ideas in different sentences and (b) they do not always come at the beginning of a clause. Also, they are often used with another conjunction. For example:

• Evan planned to come back to work the next day. When he woke up the next morning, however, he was still sick.

• Janice felt sorry for Evan, but she wished, on the other hand, that she could stay home

In this post we’ve given you an introduction to the types of conjunctions in English and pointed you to resources where you can learn more. Here’s what to remember:

• Coordinating conjunction (and, or, but, nor) link two words, phrases, or clauses that do the same job.

• Subordinating conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause, which is a clause that is there to complete or add information about the larger sentence.

• Compound conjunctions are phrases that are used as conjunctions.

• Correlative conjunctions are conjunctions that come in two parts that appear in different parts of a sentence.

• Conjunctive adverbs are not conjunctions, but they can help you link ideas between sentences.

Ready to practice? Have a look at these activities about conjunctions in English, or continue learning from one of the other articles we linked above!