Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that link linguistic units such as words, phrases or clauses.
We distinguish coordinating conjunctions such as and, or and but from subordinating conjunctions such as because, since, when, while, etc.
Examples of coordinating conjunctions are:
- guitar and voice [S1A-045 #308]
- vehicles or people [W2B-013 #73]
In the examples above, the conjunctions join two nouns. Below, the conjunction joins two pronouns:
- you and her [S1A 031 #172]
Conjunctions can also join two adjectives:
- nice and quiet [S1A-019 #341]
We call the units that are joined by conjunctions conjoins.
In the examples below we have marked each conjoin with square brackets, and highlighted the conjunctions:
- The Secretary of [Trade] and [Industry] will act on the recommendation of the City panel. [S1B-011 #25]
- I mean I haven’t any data to compare the [speed] or [efficiency] of them or how much work it is to debug them. [S1A-029 #330]
- However, I hope you will understand if I suggest that we leave this until a little later in the year, say [April] or [May]. [W1B-019 #105]
- That decision in Strasbourg set in train a process of [urgent] but [careful] diplomacy. [S1B-054 #21]
- So there is a [brief] but [noticeable] gap in the sound. [W2B-038 #66]
So far, we have seen examples where just one word is joined to another, but conjunctions can also join longer units such as phrases and clauses.
In the examples below, the conjunctions join noun phrases:
- [Bay City Rollers] and [Ray Clemence’s legs] [S1A-046 #298]
- [The cafe] or [the bloke] [S1A-015 #253]
- [Not just a star conductor] but [a leading Gershwin scholar] [W2B-008 #164]
We can also link clauses which are equally important using a coordinating conjunction (and, or, but). Here are some examples:
- [Lucy write the story] and [Sam did the illustrations].
- Well, [it’s not exactly the Pope] but [I know what you mean], yes. [S1A-069 #329]
- [He noticed that his hands were no longer trembling], and [he smiled in contentment and relief]. [W2F-012 #30]
So far we have only looked at coordinating conjunctions. One of their main features is that they link units of similar kinds, which are equal parts of the whole.
However, when we link two or more clauses in a sentence sometimes one clause is more important, and another clause is dependent on it. We call the dependent clause a subordinate clause. Subordinate clauses are typically introduced by a subordinating conjunction such as after, as, because, before, (as) if, (even) if, in order that, until, (al)though, since, (so) that, unless, when, whereas, whether, while. This makes a different kind of link between units.
In the examples below, the subordinate clauses (in square brackets) supply additional information about ‘why’ or ‘when’ something happened. They have the grammatical function of Adverbial:
- We came to the town [because we couldn’t stay in our village]. [W2C-002 #83]
- I put Emily back in her own bed [after she’d fallen asleep]. [W1B-006 #13]
- Gorbachev apparently lived in a three storey house near the Kremlin in the Lenin Hills [when he first came to power]. [S2B-021 #53]
- [Before pencils were invented], thin rods of silver, zinc or lead were used for drawing. [W2D-016 #5]
Subordinate clauses can also function as Object of a verb, introduced by e.g. that or if:
Clauses that start with subordinating conjunctions can also be placed at the start of a sentence. For example, we can say:
- He helped them, [although they were ungrateful].
or
- [Although they were ungrateful, he helped them].
In contrast, clauses which follow coordinating conjunctions cannot normally be moved to the start of a sentence:
- He helped them, but they were ungrateful.
but not:
- *But they were ungrateful, he helped them.
Be careful: some subordinating conjunctions can also be used as prepositions.
For more information on conjunctions and clauses, see the CPD pages on clauses.
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Conjunctions: Conjunctions and ambiguity
Look at this sentence:
- Can I have cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch?
Do you think the speaker wants sandwiches filled with cheese and tomato or some cheese, and sandwiches with a tomato filling?
Native speakers probably know what cheese and tomato sandwiches are, but they don't realise that the phrase is actually ambiguous (has more than one meaning).
Note that tomato sandwiches is not ambiguous. The Head is the noun sandwiches, and tomato is a modifier of the Head. We could add further modifiers in sequence before the noun: large tasty tomato sandwiches, but there is still only one possible interpretation.
So why do we have an ambiguity when we say cheese and tomato sandwiches? The answer concerns the conjunction and. Here are the two meanings of this phrase, combined with brackets to show which parts belong together in the two interpretations:
|
[[cheese and tomato] sandwiches] |
|
[cheese] and [tomato sandwiches] |
Fundamentally, we can never know for sure what the speaker meant to say. We have to guess. The more we know about the world, the speaker’s interests, the situation of utterance, and so on, the better our guess.
Think about how this ambiguity might apply to your own writing and speaking.
- Are there times when you might want to be ambiguous?
- When might you want to express yourself as clearly as possible?
- What might you do to make the phrase cheese and tomato sandwiches less ambiguous when you are speaking or writing?
Ambiguity can also affect other parts of a noun phrase.
Here are some more examples, this time from the ICE-GB corpus. Think about each one and ask yourself how you might decide what the most likely meaning is.
- They were badly fed and cold and wet [S1A-087 #255]
Could they have been badly cold and badly wet?
- ...they’re so dogmatic and set in their ways [S1A-047 #100]
Were they so dogmatic in their ways and set in their ways?
- ...you seem to be quite confident and able to answer the questions [S1A-081 #163]
Do you think the addressee was quite confident to answer the questions and quite able to anwer the questions?
If we wanted to spell out the two different interpretations of the first of these examples we might use brackets like this:
| 1. [badly fed] and [cold] | (badly applies to fed but not cold) |
| 2. badly [fed and cold] | (badly applies to both fed and cold) |
But when we write, we don’t usually use brackets. This is only a notation to help you think about the ambiguity!
We could use punctuation, however:
- They were badly fed, and cold and wet
- They were badly fed and cold and wet
- They were badly fed - and cold, and wet
Similarly, when speaking aloud, we might pause after fed if we thought what we said was ambiguous. Unfortunately, the comma, hyphen or pause might also be left out because we didn’t feel it was necessary, not because we actually meant badly cold. Often we don’t spot ambiguity in our own sentences, and only when someone asks us what we meant, or seems to take what we said the wrong way, would we explain what we meant. In writing, of course, you can’t always do this. If you are writing a book or newspaper article, your audience won’t come back to you immediately (although with email and chat the situation is a bit different). So when people write books, articles and formal letters they check everything several times. This is a good idea. It shows that you understand what you are writing. Authors have editors who tidy up their writing. But ideally you should be able to do this yourself.