conjunction

«conjunction» in Mova's school dictionary: a word that joins words, phrases or clauses together in a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (a conjunction, conjunctions)

meaning for a pupil

1) A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases or clauses together in a sentence, like and, but, or, because, when, if and although. tree →

2) A conjunction is a time when things come together or happen at the same time: «in conjunction with» means together with. tree →

3) (space) A conjunction is when two planets or a planet and the Moon look very close together in the sky. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English grammar lessons and SATs pupils learn two kinds: coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) that join equal parts, and subordinating conjunctions (because, when, if, although, while, since, until) that start a subordinate clause. Using conjunctions makes longer, richer sentences. In science, a conjunction of planets is a sight to look out for. Phrases: in conjunction with, coordinating conjunction, subordinating conjunction.

examples

• «And» and «but» are conjunctions. tree →
• Join the two sentences with a conjunction. tree →
• «Because» is a subordinating conjunction. tree →
• I wanted to play out, but it was raining. tree →
• Underline the conjunction in this sentence. tree →
• The school works in conjunction with the local library. tree →
• Last night there was a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. tree →
• Try not to start every sentence with the same conjunction. tree →
• Eteocles, in conjunction with Creon, had made due preparations to repel the invaders, and had stationed troops, under the command of trusty leaders, to guard each of the gates. tree →

note

Countable: one conjunction, conjunctions. It is a word class (part of speech) like noun or verb. Trap: some words can be a conjunction or a preposition: «after» is a conjunction in «after we ate» (a clause follows) but a preposition in «after lunch». Many teachers say not to start a sentence with «and» or «but», but good writers sometimes do for effect. Mnemonic FANBOYS lists the coordinating ones.

In the corpora

• Co-ordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or and so join two main clauses.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «conjunction» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.