Note 43 – Conjunctions

For the background to my writing challenge, please read my first blog by clicking the following link – http://wp.me/p1x6Ui-4.  If you would prefer to dive straight into note 43, then please read on…

What are conjunctions?

According to John Seely in his book Oxford A-Z of Grammar & Punctuation, conjunctions are “a class of words that are used to join together words, phrases, or clauses”.

The two groups of conjunctions, which are coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.

Examples of coordinating conjunctions:

• or
• but
• neither…nor
• either…not
• and

Examples of subordinating conjunctions:

• as
• because
• since

The difference between the two is simple, coordinating conjunctions join two phrases or clauses with the same grammatical status, whereas subordinating conjunctions are made up of two different phrases that are not linked and haven’t got the same status.

Some examples for you to work out:

(1) My father tripped over because someone left  their shoes in the middle of the floor

(2) Roses are red and violets are blue

(3) I haven’t had anything to eat since the day before yesterday

(4) Freddie has got spots but I haven’t got spots

Answers at the end of this blog.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.  Mine’s been great.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra

This blog: https://mywritingnotebook.wordpress.com

My other blog: http://sandramadeira.wordpress.com

My website:www.tipsandluxuries.com (includes first chapter of my book)

Twitter: @madeirasandra  and  @tipsandluxuries 

Reference list

John Seely  The Oxford A-Z of Grammar & Punctuation, USA

Answers: (1) and (3) are subordinating conjunctions and (2) and (4) are coordinating conjunctions.  Well done if you got them right.