9

Conjunctions

Conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses. The most common variety, coordinating conjunctions, are a closed set:

for

and

nor

but

or

yet

so

An acronym commonly used to remember the coordinating conjunctions is FANBOYS. Coordinating conjunctions connect units of equal grammatical status. That means you can usually change the order of the items without any significant loss of meaning. This sets coordinating conjunctions apart from subordinating conjunctions, which elevate one item to a higher grammatical status than another and which we’ll look at below.

Here are a few examples of coordinating conjunctions at work:

Anna, Justin, and Wesley will be here in the morning.

(Coordinating conjunction and joins three noun phrases.)

Run or jog around the block.

(Coordinating conjunction or joins two verb phrases.)

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from this earth.

(Coordinating conjunction and joins three prepositional phrases.)

Rick likes to eat, but what he really loves is sleep.

(Coordinating conjunction but joins two whole clauses.)

Some coordinating conjunctions are also members of other word classes. For, for example, is more often a preposition than a conjunction. So can be an adverb, adjective, or pronoun. And so on. But if you keep in mind conjunctions’ job as joiners, it’s easy to keep straight when one of these words is a conjunction versus any other part of speech.

This soup is so good.

(So is an adverb modifying the adjective good.)

My car wouldn’t start, so I walked.

(So is a conjunction joining clauses.)

The rain hasn’t started yet.

(Yet is an adverb expressing temporal information.)

It’s raining, yet the dog still wants to go out.

(Yet is a conjunction joining clauses.)

This gift is for Anya.

(For is a preposition.)

I will answer the call of duty, for I have just one life to give to my country.

(For is a conjunction joining clauses.)

Coordinating conjunctions often work with commas. Between whole clauses, a comma usually comes before the coordinating conjunction, though exceptions can be made when the clauses are short, clear, and closely related.

It’s true that the school has distinguished alumnae, and that’s a good reason to enroll there.

(Comma precedes coordinating conjunction and.)

The school has distinguished alumnae and that’s important to me.

(No comma necessary before and to show separation between clauses.)

Note that a comma is not used when the units joined by the conjunction are not whole clauses.

He’s run a half marathon, but he’s never run a full marathon.

(Conjunction but joins whole clauses and is preceded by a comma.)

He’s run a half marathon but never a full marathon.

(Conjunction but is not preceded by comma because the joined units aren’t whole clauses.)

There’s no hot water, nor is there any electricity.

(Conjunction nor joins whole clauses and is preceded by comma.)

There’s neither hot water nor electricity.

(Conjunction nor is not preceded by comma because joined units aren’t whole clauses.)

In lists of three or more items, the commas separating the items are thought to represent coordinating conjunctions. In the following example, note how after the word red a comma precludes the need for the word and.

The flag is red and white and blue. = The flag is red, white, and blue.

The comma after white in the above example is called a serial or Oxford comma. It’s optional. For a discussion on serial commas, see chapter 24, this page.

When nouns, clauses, and other units are connected with coordinating conjunctions, the items are said to be coordinate. For example, in Elizabeth and I are going skating, the subject Elizabeth and I is a coordinate noun phrase. Coordinate noun phrases can do the same jobs as individual nouns, including that of object: You should come skating with Elizabeth and me.

Coordinate noun phrases used as subjects and objects are also called compound subjects and compound objects, respectively.

When the conjunction and creates a coordinate noun phrase, the verb is plural to agree with the plural items in the subject.

A cat and a dog are available for adoption.

(Plural verb are corresponds to the plural subject of one cat plus one dog.)

But the coordinating conjunction or suggests that only one of the items in a noun phrase is performing the action in the verb. So a singular verb is usually used.

One cat or dog is allowed on the lease.

(Singular verb is shows that only one cat or one dog will perform the action of the verb.)

When a compound subject formed with or contains both singular and plural elements, the one closest to the verb usually dictates verb agreement.

A manager or shift supervisors are on duty at all times.

(Plural verb are agrees with plural supervisors, which is closest to the verb.)

Shift supervisors or a manager is on duty at all times.

(Singular verb is agrees with singular manager, which is closest to the verb.)

This is more a custom than a rule. You can use your own judgment in these situations.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Unlike coordinating conjunctions, which make up a small group, subordinating conjunctions make up a large group. Members include the following words and phrases:

because

until

than

although

while

after

if

when

since

unless

why

before

whether

once

where

even if

in order that

rather than

Subordinating conjunctions link whole clauses in a way that indicates a relationship between them—often involving time, place, possibility, or cause-and-effect relationship. But in the process, subordinating conjunctions do something rather extraordinary: they render one of the clauses dependent on the other. One of the clauses, then, is said to be subordinate. It can’t stand alone as a sentence.

The workers arrive on time. The foreman was late.

These two clauses can each stand alone as complete sentences. That means they’re independent clauses. If we join them with a coordinating conjunction, their status as independent clauses doesn’t change.

The workers arrived on time and the foreman was late.

The clauses are of equal grammatical status. They can swap places: The foreman was late and the workers arrived on time. Or they can be broken up into two separate but complete sentences. Clauses joined this way with a coordinating conjunction are called coordinate clauses.

A subordinating conjunction changes this relationship.

Although the workers arrived on time, the foreman was late.

The first clause is now dependent on, or subordinate to, the second. Unlike the second clause, the first can no longer stand alone as a complete sentence. The conjunction would render it a sentence fragment: Although the workers arrived on time. The second clause is needed to make this a complete sentence.

Sentences that contain at least one independent clause and at least one subordinate clause are called complex sentences. That sets them apart from sentences in which all the clauses are independent. These are called compound sentences. A one-clause sentence, incidentally, is called a simple sentence.

Correlative Conjunctions

Some conjunctions work only in pairs. These are called correlative conjunctions.

both…and

either…or

neither…nor

not…but

not only…but also

whether…or

Each part of the conjunction introduces a clause, phrase, or word, and as a result the parts achieve a sort of balance. The parts introduced by each half of the correlative conjunction are usually similar in length and grammatical structure. Here are some examples:

We watched not only Jaws but also Star Wars.

The speech was neither too long nor too short.

Whether you love him or hate him, you must admit the senator gets the job done.