What is a Conjunction – Meaning, Definition, Types & Exercises

In the vast realm of language, there exists a small but mighty word that plays a crucial role in our everyday communication: the Conjunction. While often overlooked, conjunctions hold the power to link words, phrases, and ideas, forming the building blocks of coherent and meaningful sentences. This article discusses the meaning, definition, types, and usage of conjunctions.

What is a Conjunction 

A conjunction is a word that connects clauses, sentences, or other words. The usage of conjunctions is crucial for linking clauses, phrases, and words. Understanding the proper use of conjunctions improves the clarity and effectiveness of our writing, whether we’re using coordinating conjunctions to combine comparable elements, subordinating conjunctions to establish dependent clauses, or correlative conjunctions to communicate contrasting thoughts. Conjunctions can be used alone or in groups of two. For example – and, but, or are used alone but neither/nor, either/or etc are used in pairs. By interlinking different elements together, conjunctions enable us to express relationships and convey complex thoughts effectively.

Conjunction Definition 

Conjunctions are phrases or words that join together different sentences, clauses, and other words together. Conjunctions play an important role in interconnecting clauses, sentences, and words. Whether using coordinating conjunctions to join similar elements, subordinating conjunctions to introduce dependent clauses, or correlatives conjunctions to express different ideas, understanding the appropriate usage of conjunctions enhances the clarity and effectiveness of our writing. Conjunctions are very helpful in both spoken communication and writing as they allow us to group similar ideas together and simplify, shorten, or clarify our sentences.

Conjunction Examples

Here are some examples to understand how conjunctions are used in sentences:

• Seeta and Geeta went to market.
• Give me chocolate or toffee.
• Ridhi and Sidhi have come
• Mrs. Parul is hospitalized therefore she had not come to the office.

Types of Conjunctions

Conjunctions are mainly of four types:

1. Coordinating Conjunction
2. Subordinating Conjunction
3.  Correlative Conjunction Words
4. Conjunctive Adverbs

Coordinating Conjunction

And, but, or, nor, so, as well as, either _ or, neither _ nor, not only _ but also, only, then, therefore,  are called Coordinating Conjunctions. Coordinating means “equal in ranks”. One can say that coordinating conjunctions are always used to add two equally ranked phrases, clauses, and sentences

Examples : 

• Bheem and Chutki were playing Carrom.
• You and I are students of Youtube marketing.
• My family is poor but honest.

Coordinating Conjunctions are of four types:

1	Cumulative or Copulative conjunction	as…….. and, both……..and, as well as, no less than, Not only ……. but also.	Ravi was both fined and imprisoned
2	Alternative or Disjunctive conjunction	as_or, either……or, neither….nor, otherwise, else.	Either she is angry or she feigns madness
3	Adversative conjunction	as_But, still, yet, nevertheless, whereas, while, only.	She is slow, but she is steady
4	Illative conjunction	as_for, therefore, so, consequently.	He was found stealing, and therefore he was arrested

Subordinating Conjunction

As, because, since, if, though, although, that, before, after, till, until, as long as, when, where, why, etc are known as Subordinating Conjunctions.

Examples :

• Sudheer was fined as he drink alcohol.
• If she comes, I shall go.
• I don’t know where he lives.

Subordinating Conjunctions are of Eight types

1	Conjunction of Time	Before, after, till/until, since, as soon as, while, as long as, when, as, whenever	I will leave as soon as you come.
2	Conjunction of Cause or Reason	Because, since, as	I hate him because he hates me.
3	Conjunction of Result or Consequences	That	He was so mad that he work late at night.
4	Conjunction of Purpose	That, so that, lest, in order that	She worked hard so that she might succeed.
5	Conjunction of Condition	if, as if, unless	She will dismiss you if you are late again.
6	Conjunction of Concession or Contrast	although, though, however	She is not contended though she is poor.
7	Conjunction of Comparison	as, than	She is as intelligent as I.
8	Conjunction of Extent or Manner	as, according as	All will reap as they sow.

Correlative Conjunction Words

A pair of correlative conjunctions are used to join similar parts of a sentence. However, correlative conjunctions don’t just join nouns. We can connect verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases, and even clauses depending on which ones we use. Commas are typically not used with correlative conjunctions:

Example :

• Barsha likes both cats and dogs.

Conjunctive Adverbs

Adverbs that join one clause to another are known as conjunctive adverbs. They can also be used to demonstrate relationships such as cause and effect, contrast, and sequence. Conjunctive adverbs can be moved around in a sentence or clause just like other adverbs.

For example : 

• Sudhir kept talking in class; therefore, he got in trouble.

Conjunctions List: Usage

Here is the list of Conjunction which is used in our daily English usage:

and	as well as	otherwise	or else	therefore	so	hence	consequently	either	neither
both…….and	so………..that	too………to	as…….as	whether ……… or	as …….. so	as soon as	but ……	no sooner ……… than	not only ……… but also
where	wherever	whence	when	whenever	till or until	while	because	because of	since
that	lest	such …….. that	if	unless	provided	as if/as though	although	though	however
no less than	whereas	nevertheless	how	however/howsoever	as yet	not yet	yet	as	as to
so as to	as far as	as	as now	as then	as yet	as regard	a compared with	as for this

List of Most Commonly Used Conjunctions

and	that	but	or	as	if	when	than
because	while	where	after	so	though	since	until
whether	before	although	nor	like	once	unless	now
except

Rules of Conjunction with Examples

Rule 1: Either……….or is used to show a choice of two things.

For example: 

• She is either intelligent or honest.
• Either you or your principal was present in the school.

Rule 2: Neither……nor is used to show that a negative statement is true of two things.

For example:

• My friend is neither good nor intelligent.
• Neither Rishi nor Rahul was playing this game.

Rule 3: Both…….and is used in the sense of ‘and also’ or not only…..’ but also’.

For example:

• Varun is both tall and healthy.
• Both his friend and his girlfriend will be there.

Rule 4: Nor is also used after not adding more than two words with neither……….nor.

For example:

• His friend is neither intelligent nor honest nor good.

Rule 5: ‘Yet’ is used after ‘although’ / ‘though’ but the conjunction – ‘but’ is not used after ‘although’ / ‘though’.

For example:

• She is poor, yet She is honest.

Conjunction Exercises

Find the errors in the following questions –

Q1.  (a) Sudheer put all his /  (b) energy into achieving the / (c) deadlines and / (d) Pradeep could not do so.

Solution : 

• There is an error in part c. 
• Replace “and” with “but”.

Q2. The major reason for (a) / her downfall is (b) because she did not work hard (c) / neither does she believes in her team (d).

Solution :

• There is an error in part c.
• Replace “because” with “that”.

Q3.  She didn’t like (a) /  the way that (b) /  you speak to (c) / others in the class (d).

Solution : 

• The error is in part b.
• Remove “that” by “in which”.

Q4. Sheetal has (a) /  lived in Delhi (b) /  when I were (c) / very young (d). 

Solution : 

• The error is in part (c).
• Replace “when” with “since”.

Q5. Not only he offered (a) /  them some (b) / food but also he (c) / offered them clothes to wear (d).

Solution : 

• There was an error in part (a).
• One should replace the first part with Not only did he offer.

Fill in the Blanks

1.  Sheetal can neither read ___________ write. (nor/or)

Solution: Neither will be the correct choice because neither/nor are used together to demonstrate that two or more things are not true or not going to happen. 

2. __________ you work hard or face failure. (Either, neither)

Solution: Either will be the correct choice. Either/ or used in an affirmative sentence to offer a choice between two possibilities or to express a cause-effect scenario.

3. ___________ it rains, the school will declare the holiday. (Though/if)

Solution: If will be the correct choice because it shows a cause-effect scenario.

4. Parul walked carefully with her heavy loads ______ she should fail. (Lest / although)

Solution: Lest will be the correct choice because Lest..should be the correlative conjunction.

5. _______ of being thirsty, he couldn’t drink the water from the bottle. (Inspite of, in case)

Solution: In spite of will be the correct choice here. because it shows a sense of ineffectiveness irrespective of the presence of the wanted thing.

Conjunctions- FAQs

Q1. What is a Conjunctions in English?

A conjunction is a word that connects clauses, sentences, or other words. Conjunctions can be used alone or in groups of two. For example – and, but, or are used alone but neither/nor, either/or etc are used in pairs.

Q2. What is a Subordinating Conjunction?

As, because, since, if, though, although, that, before, after, till, until, as long as, when, where, why, etc are known as Subordinating Conjunction.

Q3. What are Conjunction examples?

The following are examples of Conjunctions,

• Sudheer was fined as he drink alcohol.
• Mrs. Parul is hospitalized therefore she had not come to the office.
• Give me chocolate or toffee.

Q4. What are the 12 conjunctions?

The following are examples of Conjunctions: and, that, but, or, as, if, when, then, because, while, where, after, so, though, since, until.

Q5. What is the conjunction rule?

The following are the rules of Conjunctions,

1. ‘yet’ is used after ‘although’ / ‘though’ but the conjunction – ‘but’ is not used after ‘although’ / ‘though’.

2. Nor is also used after not adding more than two words with neither……….nor.

3. Both…….and are used in the sense of ‘and also’ or not only…..’ but also’.

4. Either……….or is used to show a choice of two things.

Q6. How do conjunctions work?

Conjunctions are words that connect parts of sentences. Coordinating conjunctions link equal parts, like “and” and “but.” Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses, showing relationships like cause and effect or time. Correlative conjunctions come in pairs to link similar elements, such as “either…or” or “both…and.” These words help structure sentences and convey relationships between ideas.