Conjunctions: Coordinating, Subordinating, and Correlative Conjunctions

If you stripped every conjunction out of a novel, the prose would shatter into fragments. These small words are the hinges that keep clauses attached, the signals that tell a reader whether two ideas agree, clash, cause each other, or unfold in sequence. Learn them well and your sentences gain range; misuse them and the whole argument wobbles.

Below you will find the three families of conjunctions, the punctuation that each one demands, and the slip-ups that even confident writers tend to make.

Defining the Conjunction

A conjunction is a part of speech whose single job is to link — words to words, phrases to phrases, or clauses to clauses. The label traces back to Latin conjungere, literally "to yoke together." Modern English sorts these yokes into three groups:

1. Coordinating conjunctions join grammatically equal pieces.
2. Subordinating conjunctions hook a dependent clause onto a main one.
3. Correlative conjunctions operate as matched pairs.

The FANBOYS Family

Coordinators link items of equal weight: word with word, phrase with phrase, or full clause with full clause. English has exactly seven of them, packed into the famous mnemonic FANBOYS:

Working Rules for FANBOYS

• Joining two independent clauses? Place a comma before the conjunction: "The dog barked all morning, but nobody complained."
• Joining two words or phrases that are not full clauses? Skip the comma: "The dog barked all morning and ignored the mail carrier."
• In a list of three or more items, separate each item with commas; the serial comma before the final conjunction is a house-style choice: "notebooks, pens, and highlighters."

Subordinators at Work

A subordinating conjunction opens a dependent clause and clips it onto an independent one. The connector itself announces what kind of relationship is forming — when something happened, why it happened, under what conditions, and so on.

Subordinators Grouped by Meaning

Sentences in Action

• "Because the trains were cancelled, the wedding party arrived late."
• "Maya packed a bag before the sun came up."
• "Although the team trailed by ten, they kept pressing."
• "Call me back if you need a second opinion."
• "While the bread baked, Lucas prepped the salad."
• "The kids waited until the rain eased."

Where the Comma Goes

Put the dependent clause first and you need a comma to close it off: "Because the trains were cancelled, the wedding party arrived late." Flip the order and the comma usually disappears: "The wedding party arrived late because the trains were cancelled."

Paired Connectors

Correlative conjunctions always show up in twos, linking parallel structures on either side. Whatever grammatical shape sits after the first half has to match the shape after the second half — noun with noun, phrase with phrase, clause with clause.

Keeping Structures Parallel

The two halves of a correlative pair must join grammatically identical elements:

• Wrong: "The chef not only bakes pastries but also to run a catering business."
• Right: "The chef not only bakes pastries but also runs a catering business." (Or: "The chef not only bakes pastries but also runs a catering business.")

Adverbs That Act Like Connectors

Strictly speaking, conjunctive adverbs are not conjunctions, but they behave like them — linking independent clauses and labelling the relationship between them. The punctuation is different, though: a semicolon before the adverb and a comma after.

• however, nevertheless, nonetheless (contrast)
• therefore, consequently, thus, hence (cause/effect)
• furthermore, moreover, additionally (addition)
• meanwhile, subsequently (time)
• instead, otherwise (alternative)
• for example, for instance (example)

Example: "The prototype overheated; however, the engineers had already drafted a fix."

Getting the Punctuation Right

Opening a Sentence with One

You absolutely can. The old schoolroom prohibition against kicking off a sentence with "and," "but," or "because" is folklore, not grammar. Scripture does it on nearly every page. Shakespeare does it constantly. Every major modern style guide — Chicago, AP, Garner's — signs off on the practice without reservation.

Leading with "But" injects a jolt of contrast. Leading with "And" promotes a detail that deserves its own spotlight rather than being buried mid-paragraph. And "Because" can open a sentence perfectly well, provided the dependent clause connects to a full independent clause: "Because the pavement was slick, the cyclists slowed down."

Mistakes Writers Repeat

• Comma splice with conjunctive adverbs: "The exam was brutal, however, most students passed." Upgrade to a semicolon: "The exam was brutal; however, most students passed."
• Missing comma before a coordinator: "She was exhausted but she kept going." Insert the comma: "She was exhausted, but she kept going."
• Correlatives that lose their parallel: "He both enjoys painting and to sculpt." Adjust: "He enjoys both painting and sculpting."
• Dependent fragment: "Because the battery died." On its own, that clause is an orphan — it needs an independent clause to lean on.

Conjunctions carry more weight than their size suggests. They are how you stitch compound and complex sentences together, how you signpost logic, and how you pace a reader through your thinking. Get comfortable with all three families and their punctuation habits, and your prose stops sounding like a series of bumps and starts moving with real momentum.