Conjunctions 1

And

1) You will usually use and in cases of addition:

He works as a first aid attendant and as a fire fighter

They have to go to the meeting room and to the human resources department
They have had a conference call and waited to write their reports

But

1) To suggest a contrast that is an unexpected consequence of the first sentence:

They have worked overtime at the office this time but they haven’t finished their work.
She has signed the new sales contract but she isn’t pleased with that.

2) When you mean an exception:

Everybody has had the audit in their areas but John.

There are desktop computers on all the desks but mine.

Or

1) When there is a choice between alternatives

You can work in the accounting department or in sales.

The meeting will be held at 4 or at 5 tomorrow.

Note: For more formal contexts you may say:

You can either work in the accounting department or in sales

2) For no choice you should use neither - nor:

He likes neither video presentations nor seminars

He wrote neither the organizational rules nor the motto of our company

So

1) Normally when there is a conclusion:

He works at OCV, so he’s a happy professional

I have really enjoyed your résumé John, so I will call you for one interview

2) In relation to what has been said before:

She is not going to get promoted this year.

I think so; she has been very lazy at work
Then

1) To express action after another one:

We are going to work on a new project then become the workers of the year
She had said hello to everybody then she started to work using the computer

Note: you don’t use after to connect two sentences:

Wrong - We read the report and after we sent it to the boss

Correct - We read the report and then we sent it to the boss

You Mix:

Use all the conjunctions presented in this lesson to write some sentences: