CONJUNCTION

CONJUNCTION

A conjunction is a word or a group of words that joints words, phrases, sentences or clauses etc

For Ex- and, but, or, nor,for,yet,so, although, because, since, unless, when, while, where etc

For Ex-I bought some mangoes and oranges
            Give me a pen or pencil

The above mentioned bold words are joining words and are called conjunctions. In the first sentence above the conjunction and joins to nouns (mangoes and oranges). In the second sentence the conjunction or connects two noun phrases

Kinds of conjunction there are three kinds of conjunctions

CONJUNCTION Types

• Coordinating conjunction
• Subordinate conjunction
• Correlative conjunction

1.Coordinating conjunction:

coordinating conjunctions (called coordinators) join words, phrases (which are similar in importance and grammatical structure) or independent clauses

Coordinating conjunctions are short words i.e., and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet.
Coordinating conjunction joints to equal parts of a sentence,
Word+word
Phrase+phrase
Clause+clause
Independent clause+independent clause

For Ex-

Word+word:She likes tea and coffee

Phrase+phrase:He may be in the room or on the roof

Clause+clause:what you eat and what you drink affect your health

Independent clause+independent clause:The cat jumped over the mouse and the mouse ran away
In the following examples coordinating conjunctions join two words of same importance

She likes pizza and cake
I bought a table and a chair
He may come by bus or car

In the following examples, conjunction joins two independent clauses. Independent clause is a clause which can stand alone as a sentence and have complete thought on its own. see the following examples

I called him but his didn't pick up the phone
I advised him to quit smoking but he didn't act upon my advice
He became ill so he thought he should go to a doctor
He shouted for help but nobody helped him
He wants to become a doctor so he is studying biology

Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join. If both classes have the same subjects, the subject of the second clause may not be written again. see the following examples

She worked hard and succeeded
The player stopped and kicked the ball
He became ill but didn't go to doctor
Marry opened the book and started to study

2.Subordinating conjunctions:

subordinating conjunctions (called saubhaginators) join subordinate clause (dependent clause) to main clause.

For Ex- although, because, if, before, how, once, since, till, until, when, where, whether, while, after, no matter how, provided that, as soon as, even if.

Main clause+subordinate clause

subordinate clause+main clause
subordinate clause is combination of words (subject and verb) which cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. subordinate clause is also called dependent clause because it is dependent on main class.

subordinate class usually starts with relative pronoun (which, who, that, whom etc) subordinate clause gives more information in relation to main clause to complete the thought. 
subordinating conjunction joins subordinate clause to main clause.subordinating conjunctions always come before the subordinate clause, no matter the subordinate clause is before main clause or after the main clause 

For Ex-

He does not go to school because he is ill
I will call you after I reach my home
I bought some cookies while I was coming from my office
They played football although it was raining
Although it was raining, they played football
As far as I know, this exam is very difficult
I have gone to every concert since I have lived in New York
You can get high grades in exam provided that you work hard for it

3.Correlative conjunction:

These are paid conjunctions which join words, phrases or clauses which have reciprocal or complementary relationship. 

The most commonly used correlative conjunctions are as follows 
Either….or 
Neither……. nor 
Weather…… or 
Both……. and 
Not only…….. but also

For Ex-

Neither John nor marry passed the exam
Give me either a cup or a glass
Both red and yellow are attractive colours
I like neither tea nor coffee
He will be either in the room or in the hall
John can speak not only English but also French

Rule 1:

1.and
2.as well as
3.both… and
4.not only….but also

These correlations are used to join nouns, pronouns etc but as far as adjectives are concerned, they join to desirable or two undesirable adjectives but not a desirable adjective with an undesirable one

For Ex-

He is both intelligent and hardworking
He is not only dishonest but also lazy

Rule 2: hardly, scarcely, barely and no

sooner. These expressions can be used (often with a past perfect tense) to suggest that one thing happened very soon after another.

Note the sentence structure:

Hardly….. when
Scarcely….. when
Barely….. when
No sooner….then

Note that no sooner is necessarily followed by than and hardly/scarcely barely is followed by when, not than.

For Ex-

No Sooner had the police reached then the burglars fled (not, when) 
Hardly had I reached the station when the train left (not, then) 
Barely had I started speaking when he interrupted me
Scarcely had he fallen asleep when he had a dream

Rule 3: if two subjects are joined by conjunctions like as well as, with, along with, and not, in addition to, but, besides, except, rather than, accompanied by the verb agree is with the first subject

For Ex-Rajesh as well as his friends is coming
            He and not his parents is guilty

Rule 4: not only…… but also
Not only is followed by but also and it means both….and. In this construction The more important word (noun/ adjective/ verb) is placed after also to make it prominent. In this structure not only and but also can go immediately before the words or expressions that they modify 

For Ex- We go there not only in winter, but also in summer
             Not only the bathroom was flooded, but also the rest of the house
Rule 5: neither….nor
This structure is used to join two negative ideas. It is opposite of both…. and. It is usually rather formal 

For Ex-

I neither smoke not drink
The film was neither well made nor well acted

Rule 6: Either…..or

We use either…or to talk about a choice between two possibilities (used sometimes more than two)

For Ex-

I don't speak either French or German
You can either come with me now or walk home
If you want ice cream there is either strawberry, lemon or vanilla

Rule 7: when conjunction are in pairs than the pair must be correct

Some common conjunctions	Some common conjunctions
And Otherwise,or else Therefore Consequently Neither…nor So…that So….as Whether…or As soon as Or….. Not only…. but also Where Wherever Whenever While As… Such…. that Provided Though Whereas As though	As well as So, hence Either…or Both….and Too…to As….as As…..so But No sooner…than Scarcely…. when Hardly…. when When Until/unless.. Because Lest…. should If As if Although Nevertheless As far as

For Ex-
(a) Thought he worked hard but he failed (×)
      Though he worked hard yet he failed (✓)
(b) He is both intelligent as well as industrious(×) 
      He is both intelligent and industrious(✓)
(c) The party is from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (✓)
(d) I have no other aim but to succeed in life (×) 
      I have no other aim then to succeed in life(✓)
(e) nothing else but arrogance ruined him (✓)
(f) He asked me if I was coming or not (×) 
    He asked me whether I was coming or not(✓)

Rule 8: so…that/such… that

Structures with 'very' cannot be followed directly by that clauses. Instead, we can use so…. that or such…. that 
For Ex- It was such a cold afternoon that we stopped playing. (not, it was a very cold afternoon …) 
             He spoke so fast that nobody could understand (not, he spoke very fast that…)

Rule 9: neither of means none of the two. If more than two persons or things are present, none of is used 
either of means one of the two. If more than two persons or things are present, one of is used 

For Ex- None of his four sons looked after him(✓) 

             Either of the students of your class has done this mischief(×) 

Rule 10:As soon as….

As soon as he will come, I will call you up(×)
As soon as he comes, I will call you up (✓)
If two actions take place one after the other in future and if the second action depends on the first, the first action will be in simple present tense and the second action will be in simple future tense (see the future conditional sentences)

Rule 11: If/when is not followed by then

For Ex-when I come,then, I will meet you
Similarly since/as/because are not followed by so/therefore
For Ex-since I was ill, I could not come

Rule 12:Lest…should
              ……..or………
              …….. otherwise…..
             Use the correct pair

Run fast lest you will miss the train (×) 
Run fast lest you should miss the train(✓)
Note: Lest can also simply take V1 after it
Take care lest he fall(✓)

Rule 13: Unless, until and till

There is a difference between until and unless. until is time oriented and unless is action oriented 

For Ex- until the light turns red no one will stop 
             unless you work hard, you won't succeed 
We do not begin a sentence with till 
For Ex- till the train gets the signal, it will not proceed(×)
 (till must be converted into until)

Rule 14: until/unless is not followed by not

For Ex-until the train will not get the signal it will not run (×)
            until the train gets the signal, it will not run 

Note: will/ would/ shall does not come after until and unless(✓) 

For Ex- unless the government will not take action, corruption will not stop(×)
             unless the government takes action, corruption will not stop(✓)

Rule 15:
As…as and so..as are used for comparison. As…as it used in positive as well as in negative sentences and so …as is used in negative sentences.

He is as intelligent as you (positive sentence)
He is not as intelligent as you (negative sentence)
He is not so intelligent as you (negative sentence)
Only the positive degrees of adverbs and adjectives can be used with as…. as and so…. as

For Ex-

He ran as faster as he could (change faster into fast)
He is as better as you (change better into good)