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Essay. Conjunction Functions

The document discusses the three most commonly taught conjunctions in English - and, but, and or. It explains that these conjunctions are introduced first because they are the most frequently used and not doing so could confuse students. Each conjunction is defined and examples are provided of their uses - and combines similar ideas, or combines alternatives or negatives, and but shows contrasting ideas. Mastering these basic conjunctions is important for both ESL learners and teachers.

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Colin Young
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127 views2 pages

Essay. Conjunction Functions

The document discusses the three most commonly taught conjunctions in English - and, but, and or. It explains that these conjunctions are introduced first because they are the most frequently used and not doing so could confuse students. Each conjunction is defined and examples are provided of their uses - and combines similar ideas, or combines alternatives or negatives, and but shows contrasting ideas. Mastering these basic conjunctions is important for both ESL learners and teachers.

Uploaded by

Colin Young
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Conjunction Conjunction, what's your function?

Written by Colin Young

There are many conjunctions in the English language, but we, as ESL teachers, often
start off by teaching the conjunctions and, but, and or. We start with these conjunctions
only as they are the most commonly used. It would also be very confusing for students
if we introduced these basic three plus either, for, as soon as, whether, whereas as well
as the other numerous conjunctions that we have at our disposal. I believe in the
saying, less is more.

According to Merriam Webster, conjunctions are “a word that joins together sentences,
clauses, phrases, or words.” Our chosen three conjunctions are coordinating
conjunctions, meaning that they link similar words or word groups. Let us take a deeper
look at these three conjunctions and how they are used in our everyday language.

The conjunction and is used to combine two similar ideas or words. If we take two
sentences with similar function and form, such as ‘I like crackers’ and ‘I like cheese’, we
can use and to combine them and make one sentence. ‘I like crackers and cheese’ is
formed by combining these two similar ideas and adding the andconjunction. We also
use the conjunction and at the end of a list of items, for example, We are inviting John,
Sam, and Steveto the dinner tomorrow. The and is used at the end of the list before the
final word, though the use of a comma before the and is debated.1 “We do not usually
use and between adjectives before a noun, for example, we would not write the nice
and long letter.” (Swan, 1984:35) That being said, we can use and in such an example
when the adjectives refer to different parts of the same thing, for example, The short
and stout teapot.”

Where and is used to combine two similar ideas, the conjunction or is used to combine
two negative words or phrases. ‘I don’t like cheese or crackers,’ is an example where
we are combining two negative sentences into one. We can also use or to link
alternatives in a list, for example, We can set the appointment on Monday, Tuesday, or
Thursday.

1
http://www.thewritingsite.org/british-english-vs-american-english/
Our third conjunction, but, is used to show contrast or opposing ideas or thoughts. In
the example, ‘I like swimming, but I don’t like running,’ we are comparing two
contrasting ideas, I like and I don’t like. This conjunction can be used similarly to
contrast opposing sentences and phrases as well.

These three conjunctions are extremely important for the ESL learner, and more
importantly, the ESL teacher, to understand and be able to explain clearly and simply so
they can be understood and applied correctly.

References

Swan, M. (1984) Basic English Use. Oxford University Press: 35.

"British English Vs American English – The Serial Comma".Thewritingsite.org. N.p.,


2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

"Conjunction." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.

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