Most common subordinators

Paul Adrian V. Basilio

Subordinators:Common Subordinating Conjunctions

Causeasbecausein order thatsinceso that

Concession and Comparisonalthoughasas thougheven thoughjust asthoughwhereaswhile

Conditioneven ififin caseprovided thatunless

Placewherewherever

Timeafteras soon asas long asbeforeoncestilltilluntilwhenwheneverwhile

Examples and Observations:

"English has a wide range ofsubordinate conjunctions:that, if, though, although, because, when, while, after, before,and so forth. . . . They are placed before a completesentenceorindependent clauseto make that clause dependent. This dependent clause now needs to attach to anotherclausethat is independent. Otherwise, a sentencefragmentresults:

*When Doris bought the cake.

"Mostsubordinate clausesare signalled by the use of asubordinating conjunction. There are three main types:

-simplesubordinators consist of one word:although, if, since, that, unless, until, whereas, while, etc.

-complexsubordinators consist of more than one word:in order that, such that, granted (that), assuming (that), so (that), as long as, insofar as, in case, etc.

-correlativesubordinators consist of 'pairs' of words which relate two parts of the sentence:as . . . so . . ., scarcely . . . when . . ., if . . . then . . ., etc.

CoordinatorsRecognize acoordinating conjunctionwhen you see one.

And,but,for,nor,or,so, andyetthese are the seven coordinating conjunctions. To remember all seven, you might want to learn one of these acronyms:FANBOYS,YAFNOBS, orFONYBAS.

F= forA= andN= norB= butO= orY= yetS= soY= yetA= andF= forN= norO= orB= butS= soF= forO= orN= norY= yetB= butA= andS= so

Coordinating conjunctions connect words,phrases, andclauses. Look at the examples that follow:

The bowl of squid eyeball stew is hotanddelicious.

The squid eyeball stew is so thick that you can eat it with a forkorspoon.

Here are the meanings and some examples of coordinating conjunctions in English:

for:presents a reason ("He is gambling with his health, for he has been smoking far too long.") (though "for" is more commonly used as a preposition)

and:presents non-contrasting item(s) or idea(s) ("They gamble, and they smoke.")

nor:presents a non-contrasting negative idea ("They don't gamble nor smoke.")

but:presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, but they don't smoke.")

or:presents an alternative item or idea ("Every day they gamble or they smoke.")

yet:presents a contrast or exception ("They gamble, yet they don't smoke.")

so:presents a consequence ("He gambled well last night, so he smoked a cigar to celebrate.")

Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs, in order to show the relationship between the ideas expressed in different parts of a sentence. For instance, in the following example, the expressioneither ... oris used to indicate that the ideas expressed in the two clauses represent two alternative choices of action.e.g.Eitheryou should study harder,oryou should take a different course.

The most commonly used correlative conjunctions areboth ... and,either ... orandneither ... nor. In the table below, each pair of correlative conjunctions is accompanied by an example of its use. Note that in the constructionif ... then, the wordthencan usually be omitted.Correlative Conjunctionsboth ... andHe isbothintelligentandgood-natured.

either ... orI willeithergo for a walkorread a book.

neither ... norHe isneitherrichnorfamous.

hardly ... whenHe hadhardlybegun to work,whenhe was interrupted.

if ... thenIfthat is true,thenwhat happened is not surprising.

no sooner ... thanNo soonerhad I reached the corner,thanthe bus came.

not only ... but alsoShe isnot onlyclever,but alsohard-working.

rather ... thanI wouldrathergo swimmingthango to the library.

scarcely ... whenScarcelyhad we left home,whenit started to rain.

what with ... andWhat withall her aunts, unclesandcousins, she has many relatives.

whether ... orHave you decidedwhetheryou will comeornot?