Conjunctions

Coordinating, subordinating and correlative conjunctions, conjunctive adverbs, and the most common errors.

What is a conjunction?

A conjunction joins words, phrases or clauses: bread and butter; slow but sure; I stayed home because it was raining.

Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS)

They join elements of equal grammatical rank: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. When they join two independent clauses, put a comma before them.

She was tired, but she kept working.
He did not call, nor did he write. (note the inversion after 'nor')
It was late, so we went home.

Subordinating conjunctions

They introduce a dependent clause and show time, cause, condition, contrast or purpose.

Meaning	Conjunctions	Example
Time	when, while, after, before, since, until, as soon as	Call me as soon as you arrive.
Cause	because, since, as	Since it was raining, the match was postponed.
Condition	if, unless, provided that, in case	Unless you work hard, you will fail.
Contrast	although, though, even though, whereas, while	Although he was poor, he was honest.
Purpose	so that, in order that, lest	Walk carefully lest you should fall.

Correlative conjunctions (used in pairs)

either … or: Either you or he is responsible.
neither … nor: Neither the teacher nor the students were present.
both … and: Both Ali and Sara passed.
not only … but also: She is not only intelligent but also hardworking.
whether … or: I do not know whether he will come or not.
no sooner … than: No sooner had he left than it began to rain.
hardly / scarcely … when: Hardly had he arrived when the meeting started.
Rule of parallelism: the words after each part should be the same kind — 'not only in Lahore but also in Karachi', not 'not only in Lahore but also Karachi'.
With either/or and neither/nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither he nor his friends are coming.

Conjunctive adverbs

Words like however, therefore, moreover, otherwise, consequently and nevertheless are not true conjunctions. When they join two independent clauses, use a semicolon before them and a comma after: It was raining; however, the match continued.

Common errors

Wrong	Right	Why
Although he is rich, but he is unhappy.	Although he is rich, he is unhappy.	Do not use 'although' and 'but' together.
No sooner had he arrived when the train left.	No sooner had he arrived than the train left.	'No sooner' takes 'than'.
Hardly had he slept than the phone rang.	Hardly had he slept when the phone rang.	'Hardly' takes 'when'.
Neither he or his brother came.	Neither he nor his brother came.	'Neither' pairs with 'nor'.
Walk carefully lest you will fall.	Walk carefully lest you should fall.	'Lest' takes 'should' (or the base verb).
The reason is because he was ill.	The reason is that he was ill.	'The reason … because' is redundant.
It was raining, however we went out.	It was raining; however, we went out.	A comma cannot join two clauses with 'however'.

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Subordinating conjunctions

They introduce a dependent clause and show time, cause, condition, contrast or purpose.

Meaning	Conjunctions	Example
Time	when, while, after, before, since, until, as soon as	Call me as soon as you arrive.
Cause	because, since, as	Since it was raining, the match was postponed.
Condition	if, unless, provided that, in case	Unless you work hard, you will fail.
Contrast	although, though, even though, whereas, while	Although he was poor, he was honest.
Purpose	so that, in order that, lest	Walk carefully lest you should fall.

Correlative conjunctions (used in pairs)

either … or: Either you or he is responsible.

neither … nor: Neither the teacher nor the students were present.

both … and: Both Ali and Sara passed.

not only … but also: She is not only intelligent but also hardworking.

whether … or: I do not know whether he will come or not.

no sooner … than: No sooner had he left than it began to rain.

hardly / scarcely … when: Hardly had he arrived when the meeting started.

Rule of parallelism: the words after each part should be the same kind — 'not only in Lahore but also in Karachi', not 'not only in Lahore but also Karachi'.

With either/or and neither/nor, the verb agrees with the nearer subject: Neither he nor his friends are coming.

Common errors

Wrong	Right	Why
Although he is rich, but he is unhappy.	Although he is rich, he is unhappy.	Do not use 'although' and 'but' together.
No sooner had he arrived when the train left.	No sooner had he arrived than the train left.	'No sooner' takes 'than'.
Hardly had he slept than the phone rang.	Hardly had he slept when the phone rang.	'Hardly' takes 'when'.
Neither he or his brother came.	Neither he nor his brother came.	'Neither' pairs with 'nor'.
Walk carefully lest you will fall.	Walk carefully lest you should fall.	'Lest' takes 'should' (or the base verb).
The reason is because he was ill.	The reason is that he was ill.	'The reason … because' is redundant.
It was raining, however we went out.	It was raining; however, we went out.	A comma cannot join two clauses with 'however'.