in-GLISH
GRAMMAR TOOLS FOR AWESOME WRITING
Subordinating Conjunctions: A subordinating conjunction is used to introduce a dependent clause and connect it to a independent clause.
Example 1: Before I ate some cookies, I poured myself a cup of milk.
Example 2: I poured myself a cup of milk because I wanted to eat some cookies.
Example 3: Since I poured myself a cup of milk, I ate some cookies.
Unlike coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions show causational relationships. Instead of building bridges, they create a chain of events. The examples below show different uses for subordinating conjunctions, but they also show how these conjunctions show a causational relationship between the different clauses.
Dependent Clause
Independent Clause
,
Sub. Conj.
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
Sub. Conj.
Coordinating Conjunctions: A coordination conjunction unites two similar phrases, words, or clauses. (Usually two independent sentences.)
Independent Clause
Independent Clause
Independent Clause
Word
Word
Conj.
Conj.
,
,
,
Example 1: I love to eat cookies, and I also like cake.
Example 2: I love to eat cookies, milk, and chocolate cake.
Example 3: I love cookies and milk, but I also like cake.
Writers usually develop the habit of only using two or three common coordinating conjunctions and avoid using the rest. Experimenting with other conjunctions can help writers experiment with their sentence patterns as well. Coordinating conjunctions also help demonstarte relationships or build bridges between concepts. They let the reader see which pairs of words or phrases are supposed to be together. They tell you "whose dating". In example 3 below, it appears that the cookies and milk are dating given the coordinating conjunction and comma following "milk", preceding "but".