Conjunctions

Definition: Conjunctions are the words we use to link or join two or more sentences together or two words within the same sentence. The most common conjunctions in English are: and, but, or, nor, for. For example: We eat at home and work in the office (The conjunction "and" joins the sentences: "we eat at home" with "we work in the office").

There are two kinds of conjunctions

y Coordinating. y Subordinating.  Coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so.Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join. 1.When a coordinating conj. connects 2 independent clauses,it is often (but not always) accompanied by a comma (,). e.g.: I want to work as an interpreter in the future , so I am studying Russian at university. 2. If the independent clauses are short and well-balanced, a comma is not really essential. e.g.: She is kind so she helps people. 3. When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is optional. e.g.:He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum. or He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum. 4.When a coordinating conjunctions is used to connect all the elements in a series (,) comma is not used. e.g.: Presbyterians and Methodists and Baptists are the prevalent Protestant congregations in Oklahoma. 5.A comma is also used with the conj. but ,when expressing a contrast. e.g.: This is a useful rule, but difficult to remember. 6.In most of their other roles coord. conj. joins 2 sentence elements without the comma. 7. The conjunction NOR is not extinct, but it is not used nearly as often as the other conjunctions. e.g.: That is neither what I said nor what I meant. 8.When the adverb yet has the meaning "nevertheless" or "but" it functions as a coordinating conjunction. e.g.: John plays badminton well, yet his favorite sport is tennis. 9. The preposition FOR is a conj. when it has the meaning because or since. e.g.:John had a good chance to get the job, for his father was on the company board.  Subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, while.Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause. A Subordinating Conjunction comes at the beginning of a Subordinate or Dependent Clause and establishes the relationship between the dependent clause and the rest of the sentence. It also turns
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the clause into something that depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning. e.g.: Because he loved acting, he refused to give up his dream of being in the movies.  Correlative Conjunctions : Some conjunctions combine with other words are called correlative conjunctions. They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence elements that should be treated as grammatically equal. both . . . and neither . . . nor not only . . . but also whether . . . or not . . . but as . . . as either . . . or