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Kevin
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May 10, 2022
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Common Questions
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Do you know how to identify the conjunction of a sentence? When do sentences use conjunctions?
This article will define the word conjunction and teach you how to use conjunctions in a sentence. You will also learn how to point out a conjunction in a compound sentence.
Keep reading to learn about conjunctions!
What Does Conjunction Mean?
According to Your Dictionary, a conjunction is a part of speech in English grammar. A conjunction is a phrase or word responsible for connecting two clauses. These can be independent clauses, dependent clauses, or subordinate clauses. As the name implies, a conjunction conjoins the main clause with another group of words.
A conjunction can come at the beginning of a sentence or after a comma or semicolon. Be sure to avoid a comma splice with these connectors! The pronunciation of conjunction is kənˈdʒʌŋkʃən, and the abbreviation of conjunction is conj.
There are three types of English conjunctions, but all are equally important and can help you form complex sentences. Keep reading to learn about all of the different types of conjunctions!
Coordinating Conjunctions
A coordinating conjunction is a conjunction that links two equal parts of a sentence, such as independent clauses, words, and phrases. The most common coordinating conjunctions include and, nor, and so.
Subordinating Conjunctions
Unlike coordinating conjunctions, you can use a subordinating conjunction to connect an independent clause with a dependent clause. This type of conjunction clarifies the relationship between the clauses and shows which one is the independent clause.
The most common types of subordinating conjunctions are because, since, and after.
Correlative Conjunctions
Finally, correlative conjunctions work in pairs to join phrases and words with equal importance. These conjunction pairs include not only/but also, such/that, and either/or.
Spot the Conjunction in a Sentence
To use conjunctions, it’s important to look at examples of conjunctions. In the below example sentences, there are one or more conjunctions.
See if you can spot the common conjunctions used in these complete sentences. Then, see if you can determine if they are correlative, coordinating, or subordinating conjunctions.
Example #1: A Trip to the Park
We went to the nearby park and sat by the lake to eat our picnic lunch.
Questions: What is the conjunction in the above sentence? Which type of conjunction is it?
Answers: And; coordinating conjunction.
Example #2: The Dessert Dilemma
You can either have a snack now or have dessert after dinner, but not both.
Questions: What is the conjunction in the above sentence? Which type of conjunction is it?
Answers: Either/or; correlative conjunction.
Example #3: The Dessert Dilemma
Because we were so exhausted, we decided to get a hotel room rather than drive through the night.
Questions: What is the conjunction in the above sentence? Which type of conjunction is it?
Answers: Because; subordinating conjunction.
What Are Translations of Conjunction?
Many languages other than American English and British English language use conjunctions to connect clauses. To learn how to say the word conjunction in many different languages, you can reference the below list of translations of conjunction from Nice Translator.
When learning a new language, it is important to learn all of the different parts of speech, and this list can help get you started!
- Japanese: 接続詞
- Portuguese (Brazil): conjunção
- Turkish: bağlaç
- Polish: Conmitalctnn
- Danish: Conjunctionn
- Gujarati: સંયોજન
- Spanish: conjunción
- Portuguese (Portugal): conjunção
- Swedish: konjunktion
- Malayalam: കൺജംഗ്ഷൻ
- Ukrainian: сполучення
- Urdu: conjunction
- Hindi: कंजंक्शनन
- Bengali: সংমিশ্রণ
- Chinese (Taiwan): conjunctionn
- Norwegian: konjunksjon
- Indonesian: konjungsin
- Filipino: conjunctionn
- Thai: ร่วมกัน
- Marathi: संयोजन
- Hebrew: contunctionn
- Italian: congiunzione
- Kannada: ಕಾಂಜಂಕ್ಷನ್
- Bulgarian: conjunctionn
- Basque: conjunctionn
- Hungarian: összekapcsol
- Lithuanian: jungtis
- Vietnamese: kết hợp
- Amharic: ተባባሪ
- Croatian: konjunkcija
- Swahili: Conjunctionn
- Latvian: savienot
- French: conjonction
- Czech: spojka
- Telugu: కంజుక్షన్న్
- Slovak: spojenie
- German: Konjunktion
- Russian: соединение
- Dutch: conjunctie
- Tamil: congunctnn
- Welsh: cydgysylltiad
- Slovenian: konjunkcija
- Chinese (PRC): conjunctionn
- Serbian: коњункцијанн
- Romanian: conjuncție
- Finnish: konjunktio
- Catalan: conjunció
- Arabic: Convalunctionn
- Icelandic: samtenging
- Estonian: konjunctionn
- Malay: Conjunctionn
- Greek: συνδυασμός
- Korean: 결합
What Are Synonyms of Conjunction?
The word conjunction isn’t always used in the context of English grammar. People can also use the word conjunction to mean any sort of connection. However, the word conjunction is often associated with English and grammar.
If you are trying to describe a conjunction without using the word conjunction itself, you can use a synonym of conjunction from Power Thesaurus. Knowing these synonyms can be useful to clarify what you mean by conjunction to others.
- abutment
- affiliation
- agreement
- alignment
- alinement
- alliance
- and
- association
- bond
- cahoots
- co-occurrence
- coalition
- coexistence
- coincidence
- coition
- coitus
- colligation
- combination
- coming together
- communication
- concomitance
- concourse
- concurrence
- confederation
- confluence
- conflux
- congress
- conjointment
- conjugation
- conjunctive
- connection
- connective
- connectivity
- consolidation
- contemporaneity
- continuative
- convergence
- copulation
- coupling
- hookup
- intersection
- joining
- junction
- juxtaposition
- link
- linkage
- marriage
- meeting
- neither
- partnership
- sexual intercourse
- simultaneity
- synchronicity
- synchronism
- synchrony
- tie-up
- unification
- union
What Are Antonyms of Conjunction?
Many words have the opposite meaning of conjunction, listed below from Power Thesaurus.
- alienation
- apart
- breach
- break
- break up
- breaking up
- breakup
- chasm
- cleavage
- demarcation
- detachment
- dichotomy
- difference
- differentiation
- disaffiliation
- disassociation
- disconnection
- discrimination
- disengagement
- disintegration
- disjunction
- dismissal
- dispersal
- disseverance
- dissociation
- dissolution
- distance
- distinction
- disunion
- disunity
- divergence
- divergency
- divider
- dividing
- division
- divorce
- estrangement
- gap
- gulf
- independence
- interval
- isolation
- parting
- partition
- partitioning
- release
- rift
- rupture
- schism
- scission
- secession
- seclusion
- segmentation
- segregation
- separate
- separated
- separating
- separation
- sequestration
- severance
- split
- split up
- splitting
- splitting up
Conclusion
The definition of conjunction is a part of speech that connects two words, phrases, or clauses within a sentence. There are three different types of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions.
These conjunctions have unique use cases for connecting words, clauses, and phrases. Try seeing if you can spot which kind of conjunction someone uses in a compound sentence.
Sources:
Conjunction Synonyms | Power Thesaurus
Conjunction Antonyms | Power Thesaurus
