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Conjunctions

coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions join two or more complete simple sentences together to create a compound sentence.

Both parts of the compound sentence must be a finished thought or idea that makes sense by itself (main/independent clauses). The conjunction replaces the full stop.

Coordinating conjunctions add extra information, give an explanation or reason for an action, or create a contrast:

Note: it's important to teach students to never place a coordinating conjunction at the start of a written sentence, as this can lead to them writing in sentence fragments, or lead to writing in a casual, conversational tone. Even though there are times when starting a sentence using one is appropriate and arguably effectively used for style reasons, students need a thorough grasp of how sentences are constructed grammatically to do this correctly. For example:

I went with my mum and dad. And my sister. incorrect : no verb = sentence fragment.
First, I woke up with a headache. The dog bit me. I missed my bus. And then I lost my wallet. Correct: contains a subject, verb and object. "And" has been used to emphasise that the final item in a long list of unfortunate events is the very worst.

SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS

Subordinating conjunctions are used to create complex sentences.

A complex sentence is made from an independent clause (main clause or a finished sentence/thought/idea) and a subordinate/dependent clause (an unfinished idea that doesn't make sense by itself):

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