Grammar -Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunctions
Let's learn coordinating conjunctions in detail.
These conjunctions links words, phrases or clauses of equal grammatical type or the ideas that has equal importance.
Let’s see what are the Coordinating Conjunctions that we can use to link two or more items. They are,
and then
but yet
or nor
so for
Therefore they may join two or more words of equal grammatical type.
They may join two or more verbs:
She will sing and dance at the concert.
They also can join two or more nouns:
The poor man is not fed with bread or butter.
They may also join two or more adjectives:
He is too old and feeble to fight against the disease.
These conjunctions link two adverbs:
They slowly but steadily reach their destination.
Remember!
Two words belong to two different classes cannot be joined
For an instant we can’t say,
She will sweetly and sings at the concert because sweetly is an adjective and sings is a verb.
Coordinating conjunctions join two phrases with equal strength
The men and the women at the river were shouting for help.
Here both the men and the women are two phrases of same type they are noun phrases.
They can join two main or independent clauses.
Pahan’s sister wanted to join them but she could not join.
Here
Pahan’s sister wanted to join them
is one clause which is a main or an independent clause.
She could not join.
is another clause which a main or an independent clause
because both these clauses can be considered as two independent sentence. They can stand on their own.
Look at another example
Pavan is clever and he is the best student in the class.
Here also two sentences,
Pavan is clever.
He is the best student in the class.
are connected together using the conjunction “and”
Read the following examples again
Pahan went with his father and mother.
His sister wanted to join but she could not.
The guard blew the whistle and then he waved the flag.
His grandmother’s village can be visited by bus or train.
Pahan got la tot the station yet he could catch the train.
His sister did not join him nor his brother.
His brother and sister had classes so they stayed at home.
They decided to go by train for it was comfortable and fast.
Remember!
nor, then and yet can be used after and
The guard blew the whistle and then waved the flag.
His sister did not join and nor did his brother.
He is so clever and yet he studied hard.
nor and then can be used after but
He did not have money to buy anything but then his father brought him a packet of Kadala.
His father did not buy him an ice-cream but nor did he wanted to.
Now we know what constituents these conjunctions join.We also need to know the situations these conjunctions are used
Look at the following sentences
Samanali is eating a bun.
Kurulu is eating a bun
In the above sentences
Samanali is eating a bun and Kurulu is also eating a bun.
Both of them are doing the same thing so instead of repeating the same thing again we can say
Samanali and Kurulu are eating buns.
More examples
Pavan is riding a bicycle in the garden.
His brother is riding a bicycle in the garden.
Pavan and his brother are riding a bicycle in the garden.
There is a blue bird in the garden.
The bird is eating seeds.
There is a bird in the garden and it is eating seeds.
The dog ran fast.
The dog jumped over the fence.
The dog ran fast and jumped over the fence.
and
connects
the same, similar or equal without contrast
Activity 1
Connect the following sentences using “and”
1. Samanmali is having his breakfast.
Samanali is having breakfast.
2. Seha is doing her homework.
Her sister is doing her homework.
3. Binara is playing.
His mother is playing with him.
4. Sahan is playing a video game.
His mother is playing a video game.
5. Meena is eating an ice cream.
Her sister is eating an ice cream.
Now look at the following sentences and note how the ideas are joined
Sepalika is watching TV.
Her sister is doing exercise.
We can join these two ideas and say
Sepalika is watching TV but her sister is doing exercise
In the sentences above, both of them are doing different actions so instead of using and we use
but
More examples
Neela is eating a bun.
Her friend is not eating anything.
Neela is eating a bun but her friend is not eating anything.
Kumudu likes grapes.
Sumudu likes mangoes.
Kumudu likes grapes but Sumudu likes mangoes.
Kurulu has straight hair.
Meena has curly hair.
Kurulu has straight hair but Meena has curly hair.
but
connects the different constituents to show contrast
Activity 2
Connect the following sentences using “but”
1. Mumina is writing on her book.
Her sister is writing on the blackboard.
2. Samanali is writing an essay.
Sepalika is pasting pictures.
3. Seha is doing her homework alone.
Sela is doing her homework with her brother.
4. Sharon is playing in the garden with her friends.
Sean is playing chess with his friend.
5. Megha is drawing pictures with her mother.
Gagana is playing games with her brother.
6. Pruthuvi is having a bun for his breakfast.
Chandra is having a pizza for her breakfast.
7. Ravi and his brother are riding a bicycle in the garden.
Akash and his brother are studying in their room.
Activity 3
Choose the best word to complete each sentence.
1. I am hungry (and / but) I don’t have any money to buy lunch.
2. It’s late (and / but) I’m tired!
3. Gagana likes funny movies (and / but) he doesn’t like scary movies.
4. We live in an apartment (and / but) we like it very much.
5. Her name is Maria (and / but) his name is Fernando.
6. I think math is difficult (and / but) I like it.
7. It’s a nice gift (and / but) I don’t like it.
8. Colombo is a big city (and / but) it’s the capital of Sri Lanka.
9. My friend isn’t very big (and / but) he’s very strong.
10. Fruit tastes good (and / but) it’s healthy for your body.
11. I’m afraid of dogs (and / but) I’m not afraid of cats.
12. Our train is late (and / but) I think we will arrive on time.
13. He usually gets home at four o’clock (and / but) then he does his homework.
14. I want to go to the beach (and / but) it’s raining.
15. Camels are big (and / but) they live in the desserts.
16. My brother wants to be an astronaut (and / but) he wants to travel to the moon.
17. Their sweetmeat are delicious (and / but) they are expensive.
18. First I want to play football (and / but) then I want to go home.
19. He is a good actor (and / but) he isn’t famous.
20. This worksheet is fun (and / but) it’s easy.
yet
Also joins two unexpected or contrasting ideas
Example
She is supposed to come early to the class.
She often gets late.
We can say,
She is supposed to come early to the class yet she often gets late.
He had many qualifications.
He failed the interview.
He had many qualifications yet he failed the interview.
Look at the following sentences
When there are two or more possibilities and you have a choice between them we use or
Example
You can have vanilla ice- cream or chocolate ice-cream.
Here it says you can have one of them not both.
Indicates that one of the two or more constituents is true or possible
More examples
He will borrow the book from the library.
He will buy the book.
We can join these two ideas and say,
He will borrow the book from the library or he will buy it.
His father or mother will attend the meeting.
This gives the idea that one of his parents will attend the meeting.
Do you want to sit outside or go in to the class?
You can join the dancing troupe or be a participant of the choir.
nor
is used to give negative idea.
My brother was not able to climb that tree.
My sister was not able to climb that tree.
My brother nor my sister were able to climb that tree.
His father nor mother will attend the meeting.
This gives the idea that none of his parents will attend the meeting.
You can join the dancing troupe nor be a participant of the choir.
Here you can’t do either.
You can’t join the dancing troupe.
You can’t be a participant of the choir.
Pavan was not selected for the competition.
Pahan was not selected for the competition.
Pavan nor Pahan were selected for the competition.
Here both of them were not selected.
Remember!
Since nor carries negative meaning we don’t use the word not with the verb
Example
His father nor mother will attend the meeting.
Not
His father nor mother will not attend the meeting.
Pavan was not selected for the competition.
Pahan was not selected for the competition.
Pavan nor Pahan were selected for the competition.
Not
Pavan nor Pahan were not selected for the competition
Now look at how the following sentences
Samanali was sick.
She could not attend the interview.
Here the second sentence gives the result of what happened in the first sentence.
We can join these two sentences and say,
Samanali was sick so, she could not attend the interview.
so
is used to show the result or the consequence of something
Example
Samanali was very hungry.
The result of that is
She ate a plate full of rice.
Then we can say,
Samanali was very hungry so she ate a plate full of rice.
Pavan has just eaten some sandwiches so, he is not hungry.
My sister was late to school so, she was held back at the gate.
My brother is very smart so, everybody likes him.
I’m very tired today so, I’m going to bed early.
I know you must be tired so, I will let you rest.
Let's look at how the conjunction for connects two ideas.
is used to explain why or to give a reason
It is more formal and less common than because
More examples
My aunt is overweight, for she eats too many cakes and chocolates.
He was very worried for he was unemployed for a long time.
We listened to our teacher eagerly for she was announcing our results.
I became a member of the library for I can’t afford to buy books.
I told her to speak to me next day for I was very tired today.
Choose the correct conjunction.
Samanali did her best to pass her English exam yet / so she failed.
Pavan will get his car serviced and / for there is something wrong with the brakes.
The kidnapper went to the airport and / yet tried to use a license that had someone else's identification on it or / but he got caught.
Nobody expected Sandaru to get the job nor / so did I.
We can visit Temple of the tooth or / and Peradeniya Botanical gardens, I don’t really mind.
It was raining heavily and / so we decided to stay at home.
All in our class were eager to participate the charity walk or / but the teacher did not because she had a pain in her leg.
I tried my best to get a seat in the front row for / yet I was really interested in watching that movie.
Samanali and / nor Pahan will leave the office early and go for shopping.
Kumudu can speak English so / and Sinhala fluently, but / or her Tamil is not so good.
Refer the post on Subordinating Conjunctions for a detailed discussion
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