Why Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are like nails or glue. They join sentences together to make your sentences flow smoothly. Without conjunctions English would look like this: 

I went to the supermarket. We were out of milk. I forgot to bring money. I had to go home again.

It doesn't sound very good, because some parts are missing. It is a little difficult to read, because there is no flow or connection. To make it connect, we use conjunctions.

With conjunctions it looks like this:

I went to the supermarket, because we were out of milk, but I forgot to bring money, so I had go home again.

This sentence sounds very natural, and it is long. We can see from the example that conjunctions give your English flow.

There are three main groups of conjunctions:

1. conjunctions that join;
2. conjunctions that are used together; and
   
3. conjunctions that give extra (less important) information.
   

1. Conjunctions that Join

Some conjunctions join phrases which are equal: both parts of the sentence are important.

There are seven conjunctions that join (see the table below). These are the most basic conjunctions and are very important when trying to make longer sentences. They are used a lot. They are very useful.

2. Conjunctions that are Used Together

Sometimes a relationship can be made stronger by using two conjunctions together. Look at the table below:

Conjunctions that Give Extra Information

Sometimes we want to add some information. This information is less important than the main part of the sentence. In this case, we use a conjunction that gives some extra information.

For example: 

I brushed my teeth before going to bed

In this sentence, the more important part is "I brushed my teeth". This is the focus of the sentence. "Going to bed" is not so important. It is some extra information. "Going to bed" just tells us when I brushed my teeth — before going to bed, not, for example, before dinner or after breakfast.

You can say this, and change the focus of the sentence:

After brushing my teeth, I went to bed.

The focus is now on "I went to bed".

You can make both parts equally important:

I brushed my teeth and went to bed.

If you use "and", you join the two parts of the sentence, and both are important. 

There are 6 main types of conjunctions for adding information:

• Time — shows when something is/happens
• Place — shows where something is/happens
• Condition — shows the condition under which something is/happens
• Manner — shows how something is/happens
• Reason — shows why something is/happens
• Concession — shows that something is/happens although it shouldn't logically be/happen

In the example sentences below the subordinating conjunction is marked in bold red, the main clause in bold orange, and the subordinate clause in grey. Note that the table only includes the most common subordinating conjunctions. If you think there are any key ones missing, please let it be known through the comment box.

Where to put Conjunctions 

Placing co-ordinating conjunctions is not very difficult. Co-ordinating conjunctions are almost always placed between the clauses or words. For example:

Mike and John went to the beach
And Mike John went to the beach
John can't swim, so he didn't go to the beach
So John can't swim, he didn't go to the beach

So far, so good! 

Subordinating conjunctions are more complex and can be placed differently depending on which clause the speaker wishes to emphasize. Where you put the conjunction can change which clause is the subordinate one. For example: 

While he cleaned the room, I ate ice cream

In the sentence above the main clause is I ate ice cream. He cleaned the room is the subordinate clause. The important thing is that I ate ice cream. What he was doing meanwhile isn't all that important. Reversly, in the sentence below, he cleaned the room is the main clause. 

He cleaned the room, while I ate ice cream

The order in which the main clause, subordinate clause and conjunction are placed can also affect the emphasis of the sentence. Look at the examples in the table below: