Do you remember this little grammar song when you were young? "Conjunction, conjunction, what is your function?" Well, the word "conjunction" simply means to connect or join. It is a way of connecting the words, phrases and clauses of sentences together. Conjunctions can have different roles and there are in fact four types of conjunctions:

1. Coordinating Conjunctions: and, for, nor, yet, or, so, but

And - means an addition of something
For - to show reason
Nor- shows negative choice
Yet - shows contrast
Or - demonstrates positive choice
So - shows results
But - contrast

Here are some examples of how to use them:

John and Jane got married.
Jane liked her new jacket but wished she had bought a matching hat too.
John wanted to drive to the country, so Jane let him borrow her car.
To be or not to be, that is the question.
Jane liked neither cats nor dogs.
John thought the book was really useful in his job as a farmer, for it was written by Mr MacDonald.

2. Correlative Conjunctions

These work in pairs: either/or, neither/nor, both/and and not only/but also. Here are some examples:

Jane shouted, " Either you stop reading that stupid book on farming right now, or I'm going to throw it away."

Neither John's parents nor his brothers wanted to be farmers.

John decided that not only must he finish reading his book but also take Jane out to dinner and buy her flowers.

Closing the book with a sigh, John said, "Sadly, both my wife and my family think farming is a poor career choice."

3. Sub-ordinating Conjunctions

Sub-ordinating conjunctions are used to make one part of the sentence (a clause - a group of words) sub-ordinate to another. There are lots of sub-ordinating conjunctions. Here are some of the most common ones:

After, although, as, as if, as though, because, before, even though, if, unless, until, while, whilst, where, and when.

To get a better idea of how to use some of them, here are some example sentences:

Because John had stopped reading his book, he found it hard to sleep when it was time for bed.

John told Jane that if he could not read his book in bed, he was going to stay awake all night.

Even though Jane didn't like John reading his farming books, she realised it would make him a better farmer in the future.

3. Conjunctive Adverbs

Conjunctive adverbs can be used simply as adverbs (a word that emphasises either a verb or an adjective) and they can also be used as a way to join together two or more independent clauses and create a relationship between them. They can be grouped into the following categories:

Time - next, then

Addition - moreover, in addition, even more important, also, furthermore, likewise, similarly

Illustration - for instance, for one, in fact, for example, first, second, third, indeed

Contrast - on the one hand, on the other hand, however, nevertheless, otherwise, notwithstanding

Results - thus, therefore, consequently, subsequently, as a result

Here are some examples:

Jane decided she wanted John to be a better farmer; therefore , she promised that he could read his books in bed.

John gave her a big hug and said, "I hope you don't change your mind; otherwise , I'm going to have to get a job in an office."

After reading in bed for an hour, Tom glanced over at Sue to see if she was asleep; then he put down his book and turned off the light.

KJ Hutchings is the founder of KJ Language Services, offering editing, writing and proofreading services and advice on how you can make your English language documents the very best they can be. For more information, visit http://www.kjlanguageservices.com/