{"id":159,"date":"2016-08-08T20:50:10","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T20:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/styleguide\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=159"},"modified":"2023-07-25T19:04:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T19:04:55","slug":"conjunctions","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-geneseo-guidetowriting\/chapter\/conjunctions\/","title":{"raw":"Conjunctions","rendered":"Conjunctions"},"content":{"raw":"Conjunctions are the words that join sentences and phrases, and connect or coordinate other words together. They are difficult to define\u00a0abstractly, so we will turn quickly to worked examples of four important categories of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, adverbial conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions. As students of INTD 106 and of college writing more generally, you'll want to feel competent using conjunctions because they often give shape\u00a0to the transitional logic that links your ideas into a coherent thesis. The idea of connection \u2013 of <em>join<\/em>ing \u2013 is at the heart of the term con<em>junct<\/em>ion, so these are the building blocks of controlled complexity in your writing.\r\n<h2><span id=\"Coordinating_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Coordinating Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<img class=\"alignright wp-image-2396\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175021\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.30.58-AM-300x256.png\" alt=\"Compass icon\" width=\"176\" height=\"150\" \/>The most common conjunctions are\u00a0<em>and<\/em>,\u00a0<em>or<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>but<\/em>. These are all\u00a0<strong>coordinating conjunctions<\/strong>.\u00a0Coordinating conjunctions\u00a0are conjunctions that join, or coordinate, two or more\u00a0equivalent\u00a0items (such as words, phrases, or sentences). The mnemonic acronym <i>FANBOYS<\/i>\u00a0stands for the most common coordinating conjunctions:\u00a0<i>for<\/i>, <i>and<\/i>, <i>nor<\/i>, <i>but<\/i>, <i>or<\/i>,\u00a0<i>yet<\/i>, and <i>so<\/i>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><strong>For<\/strong>\u00a0presents a reason\u00a0(\"They do not gamble or smoke, for they are ascetics.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>And<\/strong>\u00a0presents non-contrasting items or ideas (\"They gamble, and they smoke.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Nor<\/strong>\u00a0presents a non-contrasting negative idea (\"They do not gamble, nor do they smoke.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>But<\/strong>\u00a0presents a contrast or exception (\"They gamble, but they don't smoke.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Or<\/strong>\u00a0presents an alternative item or idea (\"Every day they gamble, or they smoke.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Yet<\/strong>\u00a0presents a contrast or exception (\"They gamble, yet they don't smoke.\")<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>So<\/strong>\u00a0presents a consequence (\"He gambled well last night, so he smoked a cigar to celebrate.\")<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nHere are some examples of these coordinating conjunctions used in sentences:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Nuclear-powered artificial hearts proved to be complicated, bulky, <strong>and<\/strong> expensive.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In the 1960s, artificial heart devices did not fit well <strong>and<\/strong> tended to obstruct the flow of venous blood into the right atrium.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The blood vessels leading to the device tended to kink, obstructing the filling of the chambers <strong>and<\/strong> resulting in inadequate output.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Any external injury\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong> internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding because the small clots that formed throughout the circulatory system used up so much of the clotting factor.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The current from the storage batteries can power lights, <strong>but<\/strong> the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nCoordinating conjunctions might seem simple, but, in fact, many undergraduate writers use them imprecisely. They write, \"Any external injury <b>and<\/b>\u00a0internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding...\" or, \"The current from the storage batteries can power lights, <b>and<\/b>\u00a0the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.\" Presumably, this default to \"and\" as the coordinating conjunction of choice stems from students' recognition that they want to join related ideas together, but \"and\" often blurs the precise relationship. If you pile ideas together with \"and\" <em>and<\/em> don't differentiate logical relationships between items <em>and<\/em> hierarchies, <em>and<\/em> still expect readers to follow your train of thought, you're expecting too much: your sentence sounds as if it is gasping for breath <em>and<\/em> it reads like a list (like this sentence just did). Indeed, a grocery list works fine with \"and:\" \"we need\u00a0canned tomatoes and pasta and apples and granola bars.\" You probably don't care whether you pick up the apples first, or the pasta, and the items aren't even ingredients for\u00a0the same recipe (presumably!). But you really should have a less arbitrary plan for linking ideas together if you want someone to read 5-10 pages of your thoughts about biodiversity or the arts of Oceania. Here's that sentence again with some more precise conjunctions: \"If you pile ideas together with \"and\" <i>but<\/i>\u00a0don't differentiate logical relationships between items <i>or<\/i>\u00a0hierarchies, <i>yet<\/i>\u00a0still expect readers to follow your train of thought, you're expecting too much: your sentence sounds as if it is gasping for breath <em>and<\/em> it reads like a list.\"\r\n\r\nAt the bottom of this page, after the discussions\u00a0of the other categories of conjunctions, is\u00a0a table of conjunctions divided into the logical categories they serve. It's very useful!\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nAre the correct coordinating conjunctions being used in each of the following sentences? Explain your reasoning why or why not:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>I love algebra or German. They're both a lot of fun.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Martin is pretty good at writing, for\u00a0Jaden is better.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Juana had to choose. Would she cut the red wire and\u00a0the black wire?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"843777\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"843777\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The conjunction\u00a0<em>or<\/em> presents an alternative. However, the second sentence indicates that the speaker enjoys both activities. The correct sentence would use\u00a0<em>and<\/em>: \"I love algebra\u00a0<strong>and<\/strong>\u00a0German. They're both a lot of fun.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The conjunction <em>for<\/em>\u00a0presents\u00a0a reason. It's unlikely that Jaden being better is the reason Martin is pretty good at writing, so a different conjunction should be used.\u00a0<em>But<\/em> would be a good fit here, since the ideas contrast: \"Martin is pretty good at writing, <strong>but<\/strong>\u00a0Jaden is better.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The conjunction\u00a0<em>and<\/em> presents non-contrasting items or ideas. Since the first sentence sets up a choice, we know that Juana can't cut both wires at once. The conjunction\u00a0<em>or<\/em> presents an alternative and\u00a0is the correct conjunction to use in this sentence: \"Would she cut the red wire\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong>\u00a0the black wire?\"<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nAs you can see from the examples above, a comma only appears before these conjunctions sometimes. So how can you tell if you need a comma or not? There are three\u00a0general rules to help you decide.\r\n<h3>Rule 1: Joining Two Complete Ideas<\/h3>\r\nLet's look back at one of our example sentences:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The current from the storage batteries can power lights, but the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.<\/p>\r\nThere are two complete ideas in this sentence. A complete idea has both a\u00a0subject\u00a0(a noun or pronoun) and a verb. The subjects have been italicized, and the verbs bolded:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>the <em>current<\/em> from the storage batteries <strong>can power<\/strong> lights<\/li>\r\n \t<li>the <em>current<\/em> for appliances <strong>must be modified<\/strong> within an inverter.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nBecause each of these ideas could\u00a0stand alone as a sentence, the coordinating conjunction that joins them must be preceded by a comma. Otherwise you'll have a run-on sentence.\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Run-on sentences are one of the most common issues in college-level writing. Mastering the partnership between commas and coordinating conjunctions will go a long way towards resolving many run-on sentence issues in your writing. We'll talk more about run-ons and strategies to avoid them in the Punctuation module.<\/div>\r\n<h3>Rule 2: Joining Two Similar Items<\/h3>\r\nWhat if there's only one complete idea, but two subjects or two verbs?\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Any external injury or internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding because the small clots that formed throughout the circulatory system used up so much of the clotting factor.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The first part of this sentence has two subjects:\u00a0<em>external injury<\/em> and\u00a0<em>internal injury<\/em>. They are joined with the conjunction <i>or<\/i>; we don't need any additional punctuation here.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In the 1960s, artificial heart devices did not fit well and tended to obstruct the flow of venous blood into the right atrium.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>This sentence has two verbs:\u00a0<em>did not fit well<\/em> and\u00a0<em>tended to obstruct<\/em>. They are joined with the conjunction <em>and<\/em>; we don't need any additional punctuation here.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<h3>Rule 3: Joining Three or More Similar Items<\/h3>\r\nWhat do you do if there are three or more items?\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Anna\u00a0loves to color-code due dates, Luz loves to get ahead of schedule, and David loves the buzz of an adrenaline-fueled all-nighter.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Fishing, hunting, and gathering were once the only ways for people to get food.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Emanuel has a very careful schedule planned for tomorrow. He needs to work, study for his Arabic exam, exercise, eat something substantial, and clean his car.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAs you can see in the examples above, there is a comma after each item, including the item just prior to the conjunction. There is a little bit of contention about this, but overall, most styles prefer to keep the additional comma (also called the serial comma). We discuss the serial comma\u00a0in more depth\u00a0in <a href=\".\/chapter\/commas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Commas<\/a>.\r\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\r\n<h3>Starting a Sentence<\/h3>\r\nMany students are taught\u2014and some style\u00a0guides maintain\u2014that English sentences should not start with coordinating conjunctions.\r\n\r\nThis video shows that this idea\u00a0is not actually a rule. And it provides some background for why\u00a0so many people may have adopted this writing convention:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/r8KHIxscCkg\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nAre the following sentences conventionally punctuated?\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Ricardo composed one song today and he wants to get three more done by the end of the week.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>My house mates leave their keys all over the house, and forget where they put them.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>I wanted to call my friend, but she lost her phone a few days ago.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Vesna\u00a0had already chosen the first presentation slot\u00a0so I took the second one.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Do you want\u00a0to go\u00a0to the review session\u00a0or to the bowling alley?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"652898\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"652898\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect: a comma is required before <em>and<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Ricardo composed one song today, and he wants to get three more done by the end of the week.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect: there is no comma required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>My house mates leave their keys all over the house and forget where they put them.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Incorrect: a comma is required before <em>so<\/em>.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Vesna had already chosen the first presentation slot, so I took the second one.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Correct.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2>Adverbial Conjunctions<\/h2>\r\n<em><img class=\"alignright wp-image-2397\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175023\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.34.17-AM-300x237.png\" alt=\"Icon of two thought bubbles\" width=\"189\" height=\"150\" \/>Adverbial conjunctions<\/em> link two separate thoughts or sentences. When used to separate thoughts, as in the example below, a comma is required on either side of the conjunction.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The first artificial hearts were made of smooth silicone rubber, which apparently caused excessive clotting and, <strong>therefore<\/strong>, uncontrolled bleeding.<\/p>\r\nWhen used to separate sentences, as in the\u00a0examples below, a semicolon is required before the conjunction and a comma after.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The Kedeco produces 1200 watts in 17 mph winds using a 16-foot rotor; <strong>on the other hand<\/strong>, the Dunlite produces 2000 watts in 25 mph winds.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>For short periods, the fibers were beneficial; <strong>however<\/strong>, the eventual buildup of fibrin on the inner surface of the device would impair its function.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The atria of the heart contribute a negligible amount of energy; <strong>in fact<\/strong>, the total power output of the heart is only about 2.5 watts.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nAdverbial conjunctions include the following words that you probably use in most argument-based college writing; however, it is important to note that this is by no means a complete list.\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>therefore<\/td>\r\n<td>however<\/td>\r\n<td>in other words<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>thus<\/td>\r\n<td>then<\/td>\r\n<td>otherwise<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>nevertheless<\/td>\r\n<td>on the other hand<\/td>\r\n<td>in fact<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nFill in the missing punctuation marks for the sentences below. Type the corrected sentences in the text frame below:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>My house mate decided to drive to campus __ therefore __\u00a0she thought she would arrive earlier than she usually does.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She needed to turn left on Park\u00a0Street. That street __ however __ was under construction.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In other words __ she\u00a0couldn't turn on the street she needed to.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"843778\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"843778\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>My house mate decided to drive to campus _<strong>;<\/strong>_ therefore <strong>_,_<\/strong> she thought she would arrive earlier than she usually does.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>There is a complete sentence before and after\u00a0<em>therefore<\/em>. Thus, this sentence needs a semicolon (or a period) before the conjunction and a comma afterward.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She needed to turn left on Park\u00a0Street. That street <strong>_,_<\/strong> however <strong>_,_<\/strong> was under construction.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><em>However<\/em> comes in the middle of a complete idea; it just needs commas on either side of it.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>In other words <strong>_,_<\/strong>\u00a0she\u00a0couldn't turn on the street she needed to.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li><em>In other words<\/em> comes before a complete idea. We\u00a0just need a comma at the end of the conjunction.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2><span id=\"Correlative_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Correlative Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<b><img class=\"alignright wp-image-2398\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175025\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.35.59-AM-300x251.png\" alt=\"Balanced scales icon\" width=\"179\" height=\"150\" \/>Correlative conjunctions<\/b>\u00a0are word pairs that work together to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. This video will define this type of conjunction before it goes through five of the most common correlative conjunctions:\r\n\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/R74Ly00UygU\r\n\r\nThe table below shows some examples of correlative conjunctions being used in a sentence:\r\n<table>\r\n<thead>\r\n<tr>\r\n<th>Correlative Conjunction<\/th>\r\n<th>Example<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/thead>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>either...or<\/td>\r\n<td>You <b>either<\/b> do your work <b>or<\/b> prepare for a trip to the office.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>neither...nor<\/td>\r\n<td><b>Neither<\/b> the basketball team <b>nor<\/b> the football team is doing well.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td rowspan=\"2\">not only...but (also)<\/td>\r\n<td>He is <b>not only<\/b> handsome, <b>but<\/b> <b>also<\/b> brilliant.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><b>Not only<\/b> is he handsome, <b>but<\/b> <b>also<\/b> he is brilliant.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>both...and<\/td>\r\n<td><b>Both<\/b> the cross country team <b>and<\/b> the swimming team are doing well.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td rowspan=\"2\">whether...or<\/td>\r\n<td>You must decide <b>whether<\/b> you stay <b>or<\/b> you go.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td><b>Whether<\/b> you stay <b>or<\/b> you go, the film must start at 8 p.m.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>just as...so<\/td>\r\n<td><b>Just as<\/b> many Americans love basketball, <b>so<\/b> many Canadians love ice hockey.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>as much...as<\/td>\r\n<td>Football is <b>as much<\/b> an addiction <b>as<\/b> it is a sport.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>no sooner...than<\/td>\r\n<td><b>No sooner<\/b> did she learn to ski, <b>than<\/b> the snow began to thaw.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>rather...than<\/td>\r\n<td>I would <b>rather<\/b> swim <b>than<\/b> surf.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>the...the<\/td>\r\n<td><b>The<\/b> more you practice dribbling, <b>the<\/b> better you will be at it.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>as...as<\/td>\r\n<td>Football is <b>as<\/b> fast <b>as<\/b> hockey (is (fast)).<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nRewrite the following items. Your new sentences should use correlative conjunctions. Type your revisions in the text frame below:\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>She finished packing right when the moving truck showed up.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>There are two shifts you can work: Thursday night or Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Chemistry and physics are both complex.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"609175\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"609175\"]\r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>The only correlative conjunction that deals with time is <em>no sooner...than<\/em>. Your sentence should look something like \"<strong>No sooner<\/strong> did she finish packing, <strong>than<\/strong> the moving truck showed up.\"<\/li>\r\n \t<li>There are two correlative conjunctions that involve a positive choice:\u00a0<em>either<\/em>...<em>or<\/em> and\u00a0<em>whether...or<\/em> (<em>Neither<\/em>...<em>nor<\/em> involves a negative choice). Your revision should look something like one of these:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>You can work <strong>either<\/strong> Thursday night <strong>or<\/strong> Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>You must choose\u00a0<strong>whether\u00a0<\/strong>you will work Thursday night\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong>\u00a0Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>There are two correlative conjunctions that involve similar items:\u00a0<em>as...as<\/em> and\u00a0<em>just as...as<\/em>. Your revision should look something like one of these:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Chemistry is <strong>as <\/strong>complex <strong>as<\/strong> physics.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Just as<\/strong> chemistry is complex, <strong>so<\/strong> physics is complex.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2><span id=\"Subordinating_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Subordinating Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<b><img class=\"alignright wp-image-1244\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2016\/07\/13151143\/noun_106371_cc-e1468422755435.png\" alt=\"an unbalanced scale\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>Subordinating conjunctions<\/b>\u00a0are conjunctions that join an independent clause and a dependent clause.\u00a0Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The heart undergoes two cardiac cycle periods: diastole, <strong>when<\/strong> blood enters the ventricles, and systole, <strong>when<\/strong> the ventricles contract and blood is pumped out of the heart.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Whenever<\/strong> an electron acquires enough energy to leave its orbit, the atom is positively charged.<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>If<\/strong> the wire is broken, electrons will cease to flow and current is zero.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>I'll be here\u00a0<strong>as long as<\/strong> it takes for you to finish.<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She did the favor\u00a0<strong>so that<\/strong> he would owe her one.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nLet's take a moment to look back at the previous examples. Can you see the pattern in comma usage?\u00a0The commas aren't dependent on the presence of subordinating conjunctions\u2014they're dependent on the placement\u00a0of clauses they're in. Let's revisit a couple of examples:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>The heart undergoes two cardiac cycle periods: diastole, <strong>when<\/strong> blood enters the ventricles, and systole, <strong>when<\/strong> the ventricles contract and blood is pumped out of the heart.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>These\u00a0clauses are both extra information: information that is good to know, but not necessary for the meaning of the sentence. This means they need commas on either side.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li><strong>Whenever<\/strong> an electron acquires enough energy to leave its orbit, the atom is positively charged.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>In this sentence, the dependent clause comes before an independent clause. This means it should be followed by a comma.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n \t<li>She did the favor\u00a0<strong>so that<\/strong> he would owe her one.\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>In this sentence, the independent clause comes before an dependent clause. This means\u00a0no comma is required.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language are shown in the table below:\r\n<table>\r\n<tbody>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>after<\/td>\r\n<td>although<\/td>\r\n<td>as<\/td>\r\n<td>as far as<\/td>\r\n<td>as if<\/td>\r\n<td>as long as<\/td>\r\n<td>as soon as<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>as though<\/td>\r\n<td>because<\/td>\r\n<td>before<\/td>\r\n<td>even if<\/td>\r\n<td>even though<\/td>\r\n<td>every time<\/td>\r\n<td>if<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>in order that<\/td>\r\n<td>since<\/td>\r\n<td>so<\/td>\r\n<td>so that<\/td>\r\n<td>than<\/td>\r\n<td>though<\/td>\r\n<td>unless<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<tr>\r\n<td>until<\/td>\r\n<td>when<\/td>\r\n<td>whenever<\/td>\r\n<td>where<\/td>\r\n<td>whereas<\/td>\r\n<td>wherever<\/td>\r\n<td>\u00a0while<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\nhttps:\/\/youtu.be\/IKrRuDWEP68\r\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\r\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\r\nAll of the commas have been removed from the following passage. Re-type the passage in the text frame below, adding in the conventional punctuation. Identify all of the subordinating conjunctions as well.\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Thales came to the silent auction in order to\u00a0win\u00a0the chance to be drawn by his favorite artist.\u00a0Before anyone else could bid\u00a0Thales went to the bidding sheet and placed an aggressive bid. He knew he would have to come back and check on it while\u00a0the auction was still open\u00a0but he felt confident in his ability to win.\u00a0He was determined to win the auction\u00a0even if it took all of his money to do so.<\/p>\r\n[practice-area rows=\"4\"][\/practice-area]\r\n[reveal-answer q=\"843775\"]Show Answer[\/reveal-answer]\r\n[hidden-answer a=\"843775\"]Here is the passage again. The subordinating conjunctions have been bolded, and the correct commas added:\r\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Thales came to the silent auction <strong>in order to<\/strong>\u00a0win\u00a0the chance to be drawn by his favorite artist.\u00a0<strong>Before<\/strong> anyone else could bid\u00a0<strong>_,_<\/strong>\u00a0Thales went to the bidding sheet and placed an aggressive bid. He knew he would have to come back and check on it <strong>while<\/strong>\u00a0the auction was still open\u00a0<strong>_,_<\/strong> but he felt confident in his ability to win.\u00a0He was determined to win the auction\u00a0<strong>even if <\/strong>it took all of his money to do so.<\/p>\r\nNote that the comma following the dependent clause \"while the auction was still open\" is because of the coordinating conjunction\u00a0<em>but<\/em>, not because of the subordinate conjunction at the beginning of the clause.\r\n\r\n[\/hidden-answer]\r\n\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"<p>Conjunctions are the words that join sentences and phrases, and connect or coordinate other words together. They are difficult to define\u00a0abstractly, so we will turn quickly to worked examples of four important categories of conjunctions: coordinating conjunctions, adverbial conjunctions, correlative conjunctions, and subordinating conjunctions. As students of INTD 106 and of college writing more generally, you&#8217;ll want to feel competent using conjunctions because they often give shape\u00a0to the transitional logic that links your ideas into a coherent thesis. The idea of connection \u2013 of <em>join<\/em>ing \u2013 is at the heart of the term con<em>junct<\/em>ion, so these are the building blocks of controlled complexity in your writing.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Coordinating_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Coordinating Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2396\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175021\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.30.58-AM-300x256.png\" alt=\"Compass icon\" width=\"176\" height=\"150\" \/>The most common conjunctions are\u00a0<em>and<\/em>,\u00a0<em>or<\/em>, and\u00a0<em>but<\/em>. These are all\u00a0<strong>coordinating conjunctions<\/strong>.\u00a0Coordinating conjunctions\u00a0are conjunctions that join, or coordinate, two or more\u00a0equivalent\u00a0items (such as words, phrases, or sentences). The mnemonic acronym <i>FANBOYS<\/i>\u00a0stands for the most common coordinating conjunctions:\u00a0<i>for<\/i>, <i>and<\/i>, <i>nor<\/i>, <i>but<\/i>, <i>or<\/i>,\u00a0<i>yet<\/i>, and <i>so<\/i>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>For<\/strong>\u00a0presents a reason\u00a0(&#8220;They do not gamble or smoke, for they are ascetics.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>And<\/strong>\u00a0presents non-contrasting items or ideas (&#8220;They gamble, and they smoke.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Nor<\/strong>\u00a0presents a non-contrasting negative idea (&#8220;They do not gamble, nor do they smoke.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>But<\/strong>\u00a0presents a contrast or exception (&#8220;They gamble, but they don&#8217;t smoke.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Or<\/strong>\u00a0presents an alternative item or idea (&#8220;Every day they gamble, or they smoke.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Yet<\/strong>\u00a0presents a contrast or exception (&#8220;They gamble, yet they don&#8217;t smoke.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<li><strong>So<\/strong>\u00a0presents a consequence (&#8220;He gambled well last night, so he smoked a cigar to celebrate.&#8221;)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are some examples of these coordinating conjunctions used in sentences:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nuclear-powered artificial hearts proved to be complicated, bulky, <strong>and<\/strong> expensive.<\/li>\n<li>In the 1960s, artificial heart devices did not fit well <strong>and<\/strong> tended to obstruct the flow of venous blood into the right atrium.<\/li>\n<li>The blood vessels leading to the device tended to kink, obstructing the filling of the chambers <strong>and<\/strong> resulting in inadequate output.<\/li>\n<li>Any external injury\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong> internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding because the small clots that formed throughout the circulatory system used up so much of the clotting factor.<\/li>\n<li>The current from the storage batteries can power lights, <strong>but<\/strong> the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Coordinating conjunctions might seem simple, but, in fact, many undergraduate writers use them imprecisely. They write, &#8220;Any external injury <b>and<\/b>\u00a0internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding&#8230;&#8221; or, &#8220;The current from the storage batteries can power lights, <b>and<\/b>\u00a0the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.&#8221; Presumably, this default to &#8220;and&#8221; as the coordinating conjunction of choice stems from students&#8217; recognition that they want to join related ideas together, but &#8220;and&#8221; often blurs the precise relationship. If you pile ideas together with &#8220;and&#8221; <em>and<\/em> don&#8217;t differentiate logical relationships between items <em>and<\/em> hierarchies, <em>and<\/em> still expect readers to follow your train of thought, you&#8217;re expecting too much: your sentence sounds as if it is gasping for breath <em>and<\/em> it reads like a list (like this sentence just did). Indeed, a grocery list works fine with &#8220;and:&#8221; &#8220;we need\u00a0canned tomatoes and pasta and apples and granola bars.&#8221; You probably don&#8217;t care whether you pick up the apples first, or the pasta, and the items aren&#8217;t even ingredients for\u00a0the same recipe (presumably!). But you really should have a less arbitrary plan for linking ideas together if you want someone to read 5-10 pages of your thoughts about biodiversity or the arts of Oceania. Here&#8217;s that sentence again with some more precise conjunctions: &#8220;If you pile ideas together with &#8220;and&#8221; <i>but<\/i>\u00a0don&#8217;t differentiate logical relationships between items <i>or<\/i>\u00a0hierarchies, <i>yet<\/i>\u00a0still expect readers to follow your train of thought, you&#8217;re expecting too much: your sentence sounds as if it is gasping for breath <em>and<\/em> it reads like a list.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At the bottom of this page, after the discussions\u00a0of the other categories of conjunctions, is\u00a0a table of conjunctions divided into the logical categories they serve. It&#8217;s very useful!<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Are the correct coordinating conjunctions being used in each of the following sentences? Explain your reasoning why or why not:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>I love algebra or German. They&#8217;re both a lot of fun.<\/li>\n<li>Martin is pretty good at writing, for\u00a0Jaden is better.<\/li>\n<li>Juana had to choose. Would she cut the red wire and\u00a0the black wire?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q843777\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q843777\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>The conjunction\u00a0<em>or<\/em> presents an alternative. However, the second sentence indicates that the speaker enjoys both activities. The correct sentence would use\u00a0<em>and<\/em>: &#8220;I love algebra\u00a0<strong>and<\/strong>\u00a0German. They&#8217;re both a lot of fun.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The conjunction <em>for<\/em>\u00a0presents\u00a0a reason. It&#8217;s unlikely that Jaden being better is the reason Martin is pretty good at writing, so a different conjunction should be used.\u00a0<em>But<\/em> would be a good fit here, since the ideas contrast: &#8220;Martin is pretty good at writing, <strong>but<\/strong>\u00a0Jaden is better.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>The conjunction\u00a0<em>and<\/em> presents non-contrasting items or ideas. Since the first sentence sets up a choice, we know that Juana can&#8217;t cut both wires at once. The conjunction\u00a0<em>or<\/em> presents an alternative and\u00a0is the correct conjunction to use in this sentence: &#8220;Would she cut the red wire\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong>\u00a0the black wire?&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>As you can see from the examples above, a comma only appears before these conjunctions sometimes. So how can you tell if you need a comma or not? There are three\u00a0general rules to help you decide.<\/p>\n<h3>Rule 1: Joining Two Complete Ideas<\/h3>\n<p>Let&#8217;s look back at one of our example sentences:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The current from the storage batteries can power lights, but the current for appliances must be modified within an inverter.<\/p>\n<p>There are two complete ideas in this sentence. A complete idea has both a\u00a0subject\u00a0(a noun or pronoun) and a verb. The subjects have been italicized, and the verbs bolded:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the <em>current<\/em> from the storage batteries <strong>can power<\/strong> lights<\/li>\n<li>the <em>current<\/em> for appliances <strong>must be modified<\/strong> within an inverter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Because each of these ideas could\u00a0stand alone as a sentence, the coordinating conjunction that joins them must be preceded by a comma. Otherwise you&#8217;ll have a run-on sentence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> Run-on sentences are one of the most common issues in college-level writing. Mastering the partnership between commas and coordinating conjunctions will go a long way towards resolving many run-on sentence issues in your writing. We&#8217;ll talk more about run-ons and strategies to avoid them in the Punctuation module.<\/div>\n<h3>Rule 2: Joining Two Similar Items<\/h3>\n<p>What if there&#8217;s only one complete idea, but two subjects or two verbs?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Any external injury or internal injury put patients at risk of uncontrolled bleeding because the small clots that formed throughout the circulatory system used up so much of the clotting factor.\n<ul>\n<li>The first part of this sentence has two subjects:\u00a0<em>external injury<\/em> and\u00a0<em>internal injury<\/em>. They are joined with the conjunction <i>or<\/i>; we don&#8217;t need any additional punctuation here.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In the 1960s, artificial heart devices did not fit well and tended to obstruct the flow of venous blood into the right atrium.\n<ul>\n<li>This sentence has two verbs:\u00a0<em>did not fit well<\/em> and\u00a0<em>tended to obstruct<\/em>. They are joined with the conjunction <em>and<\/em>; we don&#8217;t need any additional punctuation here.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Rule 3: Joining Three or More Similar Items<\/h3>\n<p>What do you do if there are three or more items?<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Anna\u00a0loves to color-code due dates, Luz loves to get ahead of schedule, and David loves the buzz of an adrenaline-fueled all-nighter.<\/li>\n<li>Fishing, hunting, and gathering were once the only ways for people to get food.<\/li>\n<li>Emanuel has a very careful schedule planned for tomorrow. He needs to work, study for his Arabic exam, exercise, eat something substantial, and clean his car.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can see in the examples above, there is a comma after each item, including the item just prior to the conjunction. There is a little bit of contention about this, but overall, most styles prefer to keep the additional comma (also called the serial comma). We discuss the serial comma\u00a0in more depth\u00a0in <a href=\".\/chapter\/commas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Commas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox exercises\">\n<h3>Starting a Sentence<\/h3>\n<p>Many students are taught\u2014and some style\u00a0guides maintain\u2014that English sentences should not start with coordinating conjunctions.<\/p>\n<p>This video shows that this idea\u00a0is not actually a rule. And it provides some background for why\u00a0so many people may have adopted this writing convention:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-1\" title=\"Beginning sentences with conjunctions | The parts of speech | Grammar | Khan Academy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/r8KHIxscCkg?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Are the following sentences conventionally punctuated?<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Ricardo composed one song today and he wants to get three more done by the end of the week.<\/li>\n<li>My house mates leave their keys all over the house, and forget where they put them.<\/li>\n<li>I wanted to call my friend, but she lost her phone a few days ago.<\/li>\n<li>Vesna\u00a0had already chosen the first presentation slot\u00a0so I took the second one.<\/li>\n<li>Do you want\u00a0to go\u00a0to the review session\u00a0or to the bowling alley?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q652898\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q652898\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>Incorrect: a comma is required before <em>and<\/em>.\n<ul>\n<li>Ricardo composed one song today, and he wants to get three more done by the end of the week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect: there is no comma required before\u00a0<em>and<\/em>.\n<ul>\n<li>My house mates leave their keys all over the house and forget where they put them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Correct.<\/li>\n<li>Incorrect: a comma is required before <em>so<\/em>.\n<ul>\n<li>Vesna had already chosen the first presentation slot, so I took the second one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Correct.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Adverbial Conjunctions<\/h2>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2397\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175023\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.34.17-AM-300x237.png\" alt=\"Icon of two thought bubbles\" width=\"189\" height=\"150\" \/>Adverbial conjunctions<\/em> link two separate thoughts or sentences. When used to separate thoughts, as in the example below, a comma is required on either side of the conjunction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The first artificial hearts were made of smooth silicone rubber, which apparently caused excessive clotting and, <strong>therefore<\/strong>, uncontrolled bleeding.<\/p>\n<p>When used to separate sentences, as in the\u00a0examples below, a semicolon is required before the conjunction and a comma after.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Kedeco produces 1200 watts in 17 mph winds using a 16-foot rotor; <strong>on the other hand<\/strong>, the Dunlite produces 2000 watts in 25 mph winds.<\/li>\n<li>For short periods, the fibers were beneficial; <strong>however<\/strong>, the eventual buildup of fibrin on the inner surface of the device would impair its function.<\/li>\n<li>The atria of the heart contribute a negligible amount of energy; <strong>in fact<\/strong>, the total power output of the heart is only about 2.5 watts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Adverbial conjunctions include the following words that you probably use in most argument-based college writing; however, it is important to note that this is by no means a complete list.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>therefore<\/td>\n<td>however<\/td>\n<td>in other words<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>thus<\/td>\n<td>then<\/td>\n<td>otherwise<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>nevertheless<\/td>\n<td>on the other hand<\/td>\n<td>in fact<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Fill in the missing punctuation marks for the sentences below. Type the corrected sentences in the text frame below:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>My house mate decided to drive to campus __ therefore __\u00a0she thought she would arrive earlier than she usually does.<\/li>\n<li>She needed to turn left on Park\u00a0Street. That street __ however __ was under construction.<\/li>\n<li>In other words __ she\u00a0couldn&#8217;t turn on the street she needed to.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q843778\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q843778\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>My house mate decided to drive to campus _<strong>;<\/strong>_ therefore <strong>_,_<\/strong> she thought she would arrive earlier than she usually does.\n<ul>\n<li>There is a complete sentence before and after\u00a0<em>therefore<\/em>. Thus, this sentence needs a semicolon (or a period) before the conjunction and a comma afterward.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>She needed to turn left on Park\u00a0Street. That street <strong>_,_<\/strong> however <strong>_,_<\/strong> was under construction.\n<ul>\n<li><em>However<\/em> comes in the middle of a complete idea; it just needs commas on either side of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In other words <strong>_,_<\/strong>\u00a0she\u00a0couldn&#8217;t turn on the street she needed to.\n<ul>\n<li><em>In other words<\/em> comes before a complete idea. We\u00a0just need a comma at the end of the conjunction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Correlative_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Correlative Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2398\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/453\/2016\/08\/08175025\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-22-at-10.35.59-AM-300x251.png\" alt=\"Balanced scales icon\" width=\"179\" height=\"150\" \/>Correlative conjunctions<\/b>\u00a0are word pairs that work together to join words and groups of words of equal weight in a sentence. This video will define this type of conjunction before it goes through five of the most common correlative conjunctions:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-2\" title=\"Correlative conjunctions | The parts of speech | Grammar | Khan Academy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/R74Ly00UygU?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The table below shows some examples of correlative conjunctions being used in a sentence:<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Correlative Conjunction<\/th>\n<th>Example<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>either&#8230;or<\/td>\n<td>You <b>either<\/b> do your work <b>or<\/b> prepare for a trip to the office.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>neither&#8230;nor<\/td>\n<td><b>Neither<\/b> the basketball team <b>nor<\/b> the football team is doing well.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">not only&#8230;but (also)<\/td>\n<td>He is <b>not only<\/b> handsome, <b>but<\/b> <b>also<\/b> brilliant.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Not only<\/b> is he handsome, <b>but<\/b> <b>also<\/b> he is brilliant.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>both&#8230;and<\/td>\n<td><b>Both<\/b> the cross country team <b>and<\/b> the swimming team are doing well.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\">whether&#8230;or<\/td>\n<td>You must decide <b>whether<\/b> you stay <b>or<\/b> you go.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Whether<\/b> you stay <b>or<\/b> you go, the film must start at 8 p.m.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>just as&#8230;so<\/td>\n<td><b>Just as<\/b> many Americans love basketball, <b>so<\/b> many Canadians love ice hockey.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>as much&#8230;as<\/td>\n<td>Football is <b>as much<\/b> an addiction <b>as<\/b> it is a sport.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>no sooner&#8230;than<\/td>\n<td><b>No sooner<\/b> did she learn to ski, <b>than<\/b> the snow began to thaw.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>rather&#8230;than<\/td>\n<td>I would <b>rather<\/b> swim <b>than<\/b> surf.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>the&#8230;the<\/td>\n<td><b>The<\/b> more you practice dribbling, <b>the<\/b> better you will be at it.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>as&#8230;as<\/td>\n<td>Football is <b>as<\/b> fast <b>as<\/b> hockey (is (fast)).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>Rewrite the following items. Your new sentences should use correlative conjunctions. Type your revisions in the text frame below:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>She finished packing right when the moving truck showed up.<\/li>\n<li>There are two shifts you can work: Thursday night or Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\n<li>Chemistry and physics are both complex.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q609175\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q609175\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">\n<ol>\n<li>The only correlative conjunction that deals with time is <em>no sooner&#8230;than<\/em>. Your sentence should look something like &#8220;<strong>No sooner<\/strong> did she finish packing, <strong>than<\/strong> the moving truck showed up.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>There are two correlative conjunctions that involve a positive choice:\u00a0<em>either<\/em>&#8230;<em>or<\/em> and\u00a0<em>whether&#8230;or<\/em> (<em>Neither<\/em>&#8230;<em>nor<\/em> involves a negative choice). Your revision should look something like one of these:\n<ul>\n<li>You can work <strong>either<\/strong> Thursday night <strong>or<\/strong> Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\n<li>You must choose\u00a0<strong>whether\u00a0<\/strong>you will work Thursday night\u00a0<strong>or<\/strong>\u00a0Saturday afternoon.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>There are two correlative conjunctions that involve similar items:\u00a0<em>as&#8230;as<\/em> and\u00a0<em>just as&#8230;as<\/em>. Your revision should look something like one of these:\n<ul>\n<li>Chemistry is <strong>as <\/strong>complex <strong>as<\/strong> physics.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Just as<\/strong> chemistry is complex, <strong>so<\/strong> physics is complex.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span id=\"Subordinating_conjunctions\" class=\"mw-headline\">Subordinating Conjunctions<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-1244\" src=\"https:\/\/s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com\/courses-images\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/106\/2016\/07\/13151143\/noun_106371_cc-e1468422755435.png\" alt=\"an unbalanced scale\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/>Subordinating conjunctions<\/b>\u00a0are conjunctions that join an independent clause and a dependent clause.\u00a0Here are some examples of subordinating conjunctions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The heart undergoes two cardiac cycle periods: diastole, <strong>when<\/strong> blood enters the ventricles, and systole, <strong>when<\/strong> the ventricles contract and blood is pumped out of the heart.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Whenever<\/strong> an electron acquires enough energy to leave its orbit, the atom is positively charged.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If<\/strong> the wire is broken, electrons will cease to flow and current is zero.<\/li>\n<li>I&#8217;ll be here\u00a0<strong>as long as<\/strong> it takes for you to finish.<\/li>\n<li>She did the favor\u00a0<strong>so that<\/strong> he would owe her one.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let&#8217;s take a moment to look back at the previous examples. Can you see the pattern in comma usage?\u00a0The commas aren&#8217;t dependent on the presence of subordinating conjunctions\u2014they&#8217;re dependent on the placement\u00a0of clauses they&#8217;re in. Let&#8217;s revisit a couple of examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The heart undergoes two cardiac cycle periods: diastole, <strong>when<\/strong> blood enters the ventricles, and systole, <strong>when<\/strong> the ventricles contract and blood is pumped out of the heart.\n<ul>\n<li>These\u00a0clauses are both extra information: information that is good to know, but not necessary for the meaning of the sentence. This means they need commas on either side.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Whenever<\/strong> an electron acquires enough energy to leave its orbit, the atom is positively charged.\n<ul>\n<li>In this sentence, the dependent clause comes before an independent clause. This means it should be followed by a comma.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>She did the favor\u00a0<strong>so that<\/strong> he would owe her one.\n<ul>\n<li>In this sentence, the independent clause comes before an dependent clause. This means\u00a0no comma is required.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The most common subordinating conjunctions in the English language are shown in the table below:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>after<\/td>\n<td>although<\/td>\n<td>as<\/td>\n<td>as far as<\/td>\n<td>as if<\/td>\n<td>as long as<\/td>\n<td>as soon as<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>as though<\/td>\n<td>because<\/td>\n<td>before<\/td>\n<td>even if<\/td>\n<td>even though<\/td>\n<td>every time<\/td>\n<td>if<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>in order that<\/td>\n<td>since<\/td>\n<td>so<\/td>\n<td>so that<\/td>\n<td>than<\/td>\n<td>though<\/td>\n<td>unless<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>until<\/td>\n<td>when<\/td>\n<td>whenever<\/td>\n<td>where<\/td>\n<td>whereas<\/td>\n<td>wherever<\/td>\n<td>\u00a0while<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"oembed-3\" title=\"Subordinating conjunctions | The parts of speech | Grammar | Khan Academy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IKrRuDWEP68?feature=oembed&#38;rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div class=\"textbox key-takeaways\">\n<h3>Practice<\/h3>\n<p>All of the commas have been removed from the following passage. Re-type the passage in the text frame below, adding in the conventional punctuation. Identify all of the subordinating conjunctions as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Thales came to the silent auction in order to\u00a0win\u00a0the chance to be drawn by his favorite artist.\u00a0Before anyone else could bid\u00a0Thales went to the bidding sheet and placed an aggressive bid. He knew he would have to come back and check on it while\u00a0the auction was still open\u00a0but he felt confident in his ability to win.\u00a0He was determined to win the auction\u00a0even if it took all of his money to do so.<\/p>\n<p><textarea aria-label=\"Your Answer\" rows=\"4\"><\/textarea><\/p>\n<div class=\"qa-wrapper\" style=\"display: block\"><span class=\"show-answer collapsed\" style=\"cursor: pointer\" data-target=\"q843775\">Show Answer<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"q843775\" class=\"hidden-answer\" style=\"display: none\">Here is the passage again. The subordinating conjunctions have been bolded, and the correct commas added:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Thales came to the silent auction <strong>in order to<\/strong>\u00a0win\u00a0the chance to be drawn by his favorite artist.\u00a0<strong>Before<\/strong> anyone else could bid\u00a0<strong>_,_<\/strong>\u00a0Thales went to the bidding sheet and placed an aggressive bid. He knew he would have to come back and check on it <strong>while<\/strong>\u00a0the auction was still open\u00a0<strong>_,_<\/strong> but he felt confident in his ability to win.\u00a0He was determined to win the auction\u00a0<strong>even if <\/strong>it took all of his money to do so.<\/p>\n<p>Note that the comma following the dependent clause &#8220;while the auction was still open&#8221; is because of the coordinating conjunction\u00a0<em>but<\/em>, not because of the subordinate conjunction at the beginning of the clause.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-159\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Original<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Lumen Learning. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Revision and Adaptation. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Gillian Paku. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: SUNY Geneseo. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Conjunction (grammar). <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Wikipedia. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conjunction_(grammar)\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conjunction_(grammar)<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David McMurrey. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/twsent.html\">https:\/\/www.prismnet.com\/~hcexres\/textbook\/twsent.html<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Correlative conjunctions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David Rheinstrom. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Khan Academy. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/correlative-conjunctions\">https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/correlative-conjunctions<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Beginning sentences with conjunctions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David Rheinstrom. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Khan Academy. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/beginning-sentences-with-conjunctions-the-conjunction-the-parts-of-speech-grammar\">https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/beginning-sentences-with-conjunctions-the-conjunction-the-parts-of-speech-grammar<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of compass. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Douglas Santos. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Noun Project. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=coordinate&#038;i=223910\">https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=coordinate&#038;i=223910<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of thought bubbles. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: icon 54. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Noun Project. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=thoughts&#038;i=393828\">https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=thoughts&#038;i=393828<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of balanced scales. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Lloyd Humphreys. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Noun Project. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=equal&#038;i=96785\">https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/search\/?q=equal&#038;i=96785<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Subordinating conjunctions. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: David Rheinstrom. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: Khan Academy. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/subordinating-conjunctions\">https:\/\/www.khanacademy.org\/humanities\/grammar\/partsofspeech\/conjunctions\/v\/subordinating-conjunctions<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><li>Image of unbalanced scales. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Juan Pablo Bravo. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: The Noun Project. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/term\/balance\/106371\/\">https:\/\/thenounproject.com\/term\/balance\/106371\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":17,"menu_order":37,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Conjunction (grammar)\",\"author\":\"\",\"organization\":\"Wikipedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Conjunction_(grammar)\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by-sa\",\"license_terms\":\"\"},{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Basic Patterns and Elements of the Sentence\",\"author\":\"David 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