Conjunctions

Conjunctions – and, or, but, because, so, although – are joining words. They join sentences, give more information, give reasons, give results and/or give unexpected outcomes.

And/Or/But

We use ‘and’, ‘or’ and ‘but’ to connect two parts of a sentence that are grammatically similar. We use ‘and’ for adding information – “John’s dad is offering to take us to the concert on Saturday and he’s offering to bring us home again.”

We use ‘or’ for giving alternatives, or to introduce another possibility – “Do you want tea or coffee?”

We use ‘but’ for ideas that contrast/are different or opposite to what you have just said – “She’d like to go swimming, but she can’t as she doesn’t have a swimming costume.”

Because

We use ‘because’ for giving reasons - “I want to go to the concert because my favourite group is performing.

So

We use ‘so’ when talking about results – “We’ll take my dad’s minibus which seats seven so there will be plenty of room for everyone.” (Note that the second clause shows the result of the first clause.

Although / Despite

We use ‘although’ to add unexpected or different information’ – “We’ll leave here at 5pm, although the traffic may be heavy. We can also use the word ‘despite’ in the same way. For example: We’ll leave here at 5pm despite the heavy traffic.

Choose the correct conjunction for the following six sentences:

1. I passed my final exam at university………I didn’t work very hard.
2. I would like to visit my friend, Helen, tonight, ………. I have promised to help my father in the garden, so I can’t.
3. My Vietnamese friend is very generous. He let my wife and I use his scooter last weekend……….he filled it up with petrol!
4. I must choose what I’m going to do this afternoon. I can go to the cinema ………..I can go to the beach.
5. In 2020 I used to go swimming every weekend, but I have not been able to swim much this year ……….I started a new job and I now work most Saturdays and Sundays.
6. I said to my friend, “Let’s buy a tent ……….we can go camping this summer.”

ANSWERS

Although       2. But    3 And    4. Or    5. Because    6. So