Lesson Three

LESSON THREE

In this Lesson you will learn that there are two major types of  conjunctions -- Co-ordinate Conjunctions and Subordinate  Conjunctions. Again you will need to do a little bit of memorizing, but you  will be glad you did when it comes time for you to decide how to punctuate  sentences. 

Review: By this time you are quite familiar with Independent and  Dependent Clauses because you know how to find verb children and their  subjects. You also know that a complete sentence must have at least one  Independent Clause in it. Some sentences may contain several Independent  Clauses. Some sentences may contain at least one Independent Clause and  perhaps one or more Dependent Clauses.  

To help you find clauses more easily, you need to learn the types of  conjunctions. Conjunctions are divided up into two main categories: Co ordinate Conjunctions join words or word groups of equal rank. There are  two small subgroups of Co-ordinate Conjunctions. The first is called Simple  Co-ordinate Conjunctions -- but, or, yet, for (sometimes), and, nor. These  conjunctions will be referred to as Simple. 

TELL ME MORE! Click the PLAY button to hear additional information.

SIMPLE CO-ORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS 

(Memory Device: -- BOY FAN) 

The second subgroup of Co-ordinate Conjunctions is called Correlative Co-ordinate Conjunctions. These conjunctions go in pairs or TWINS:  

SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTIONS 

A second major group of conjunctions is called Subordinate Conjunctions.  These conjunctions begin a certain type of Dependent Clause (Adverbial  Clause). The important thing to remember about these conjunctions is that  they begin Dependent Clauses; and since Dependent Clauses cannot stand on their own, these word groups (globs which stick together) cannot be  written as a complete sentence. Here is an example. Because is a Subordinate Conjunction. Because it is raining outside is a Dependent Clause. Is raining is the verb; it is the subject of the verb. Even though you have a subject and a verb, you do not have a complete thought in this group of words; therefore, you have a Dependent Clause and must not write 

Because it is raining outside with a period at the end because it is not a complete sentence.  

REVIEW -- TYPES OF CONJUNCTIONS 

I. Co-ordinate Conjunctions -- join word groups of equal rank 

 A. Simple Co-ordinate Conjunctions -- but, or, yet, (sometimes) for,  and, nor 

 B. Correlative Co-Ordinate Conjunctions -- //whether...or//  //either...or// //neither...nor// //both...and// //not only...but also// //just as...so//  Remember: twins

II. Subordinate Conjunctions -- used to introduce Adverbial  Dependent Clauses -- 

The important thing to remember about Subordinate Conjunctions is that  they are stuck to a glob of words and cannot be unstuck when testing for a  complete thought. Because it is raining outside is a Dependent Clause, and because is stuck to it is raining outside.