Linkers/ Conjunctions

You must have heard of words like “so, because therefore, although etc.”. Right? You must have used them in your primary or secondary classes to join two sentences. These words are called linkers or conjunctions. 

Linkers or conjunctions are used to join or hold clauses and phrases together. They are used to construct meaningful sentences. They show how a group of different words or sentences relate to each other. They act as joiners; without linkers, our sentences would look very choppy and meaningless. Sentences without linkers do not make sense at all. 

We have learned about conjunctions and its types in the previous lesson. There are three types of conjunctions:

1. Subordinating Conjunctions
2. Coordinating Conjunctions
3. Correlative Conjunctions

In this lesson, we will learn about subordinating conjunctions by diving a bit deeper in them. 

What are subordinating conjunctions?

Subordination conjunctions, also known as subordinators, are used as linkers between the dependent and independent clauses.  They link two clauses into a single sentence.  These linkers are usually placed at the start of the sentence, but it is not necessary.  Subordinating conjunctions are mainly used to show the relationship between two ideas: reason and effect, contrast, comparison etc. 

A dependent clause cannot stand alone, while an independent clause gives complete sense either joined with a dependent clause or if it stands alone. Let’s see an example for better understanding.

Example: 

I am not going to school. I am sick.

In the above example, you can see that the second sentence "I am sick" is the reason or cause for the second idea or sentence "I am not going to school". But you can notice that the construction of these sentences is in such a way that doesn't show any relationship between. Therefore, we can use linkers such as because, so, therefore, to show the relationship between them and compress them into a single sentence. 

I am not going to school because I am sick.

We can change the above sentence's order and put the reason before the result using "therefore" or "so".

I am sick. Therefore, I am not going to school.

I am sick, so I am not going to school.

Formation 

In the above examples, you can see that there are different structures to use subordinating conjunctions. Let’s learn all of them.

• Independent Clause + linker + dependent clause

Example:  I missed my flight because I was sleeping.

You can use this by interchanging the position of clauses. 

• Linker + dependent clause + independent clause 

Example:  Since I was sleeping, I missed my flight.

Remember that when a dependent clause starts with a linker and precedes the independent clause, you have to use comma to separate it.

• Preposition + noun phrase + clause

Example:  Due to the hot weather we have postponed the meeting.

• Sentence + adverbial + sentence 

Example:  It was raining today, and the traffic was jam. Nevertheless, we didn’t cancel our birthday party.

Uses of Subordinating Conjunctions

There are many subordinating conjunctions which we can use to link different ideas of different nature. 

1. Reason and result / cause and effect 

Subordinating conjunctions such as "Because, so, therefore, since" are used to show the relationship of reason and result or cause and effect between the dependent and independent clauses. You can use either 1st or 2nd form to construct such sentences. 

Example: 

• Huzaifa was not allowed to enter the classroom because he was not wearing black shoes.
• Since the supermarket was closed, I have to go to Hyderabad to buy fruits.
• It's raining today so; I am not going to the office. 
• I lost my wallet. Therefore, I couldn't pay the bill.

Note:  Whenever you use 'so' to link cause and effect, the so-clause must come after an independent clause.

1. Contrast 

Let's look at an example to understand what is contrast.

I like him. I will not go to prom with him.

You can see that this time the relationship between these two sentences is different than cause and effect. If people like someone, they usually don't deny them for prom night. So, the second clause is not agreeing with the first clause. Such type of relationship where two clauses are different and opposing is called contrast. 

 For contrast, we use linkers like " however, but, although, and even though" to show the opposing relation between two clauses. 

Example: 

• I tried to meet him, but he ignored me. 
• Although he ignores me, I tried to meet him. 
• He ignores me. However, I tried to meet him. 

From the above examples, you can see the difference in the formation of linkers.

1. Comparison 

Sometimes we want to compare two different things. 

For example: 

I love ice-cream.

My brother hates ice cream.

We can use linkers to make a relationship between comparisons. From the above two sentences, you can understand that comparisons are a kind of contrast, we can enhance the relationship between them using linkers such as but, while, on the other hand, whereas. 

Example: 

• I like ice-cream, but my brother hates ice-cream.
• I like ice-cream, whereas my brother hates ice-cream.
• I like ice-cream; however, my brother hates ice-cream.
• I like ice-cream, on the other hand, my brother hates ice-cream.
• I like ice-cream, while my brother hates ice-cream.

1. Adding 

We can use linkers such as "and, also, too" to add two or more ideas. This is very simple. 

Example:

• I like Chinese food, and I like Thai food. 
• I like Chinese food. I also like Thai food. 
• I like Chinese food, and I like Thai food too. 

In formal writing, we can use linkers such as "moreover, in addition to, besides and furthermore" to add ideas.

Conclusion: 

Remember, that the primary purpose of subordinating conjunctions is to join an independent clause to a dependent clause. Conjunctions help us to define the flow of the sentence very smoothly. There are different ways to use conjunctions; the important ways are mentioned and explained in this lesson. 

Note: In this lesson, we only focused on the two formations. Rest will be covered in upcoming lessons.