Using Conjunctions to Show the Relationship Between Ideas

You should join ideas together whenever they are closely related. When they are, you have a few options for joining them.

If the ideas are of equal importance, write each idea so that it is a grammatically complete sentence (i.e. it has a subject, verb, and expresses a complete idea), and then use one of the two following techniques:

1. Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction to join the two ideas. There are only seven coordinating conjunctions:

   • And
   • But
   • For
   • So*
   • Nor
   • Or
   • Yet**

   Example: Mrs. Smith likes bright colors, so she wears yellow polka-dot dresses.

   * “So” is NOT a coordinate conjunction when the meaning is “so that.”

   ** “Yet” is NOT a coordinate conjunction when the meaning relates to time (e.g. She hasn’t finished her work yet.).

2. Use a conjunctive adverb and a semicolon to join the two ideas. There are a number of conjunctive adverbs. Listed below are some of them:

   • Also
   • Accordingly
   • Anyway
   • Besides
   • Certainly
   • Consequently
   • Conversely
   • Finally
   • Further
   • Furthermore
   • Hence
   • However
   • Incidentally
   • Indeed
   • Instead
   • Likewise
   • Meanwhile
   • Moreover
   • Namely
   • Nevertheless
   • Next
   • Now
   • Otherwise
   • Similarly
   • Still
   • Subsequently
   • Then
   • Therefore
   • Thus
   • Undoubtedly

   You can identify conjunctive adverbs because they can be placed in more than one position in the sentence and still make sense (e.g. She wanted to go home; however, she knew she had to finish her paper. OR She wanted to go home; she knew, however, she had to finish her paper.).

   Example: Mrs. Smith likes bright colors; therefore, she wears yellow polka-dot dresses.

3. If the ideas are closely related but NOT equally important, then you can join the ideas with a subordinating conjunction.

   First decide which idea you want to emphasize; write this idea as a complete sentence. Then join the other idea to a subordinating conjunction; this forms a subordinate (dependent) clause. This new clause can not stand alone. You must connect it to a complete sentence. A list of some common subordinate conjunctions is given below:

   • after
   • although
   • as
   • as (far/soon) as
   • as if
   • as though
   • because
   • before
   • even if
   • even though
   • how
   • if
   • if only
   • inasmuch as
   • in case
   • in order that
   • insofar as
   • in that
   • lest
   • no matter how
   • now that
   • once
   • provided that
   • rather than
   • since
   • so that
   • supposing that
   • than
   • though
   • till
   • unless
   • until
   • when
   • whenever
   • where
   • whereas
   • wherever
   • whether
   • while

4. If you place the subordinate clause at the beginning at the sentence, you should follow it with a comma. If you place the subordinate clause at the end of the sentence, you do not need to precede it with a comma UNLESS it is clearly additional (non-restrictive) information.

   Original ideas:

   • Mrs. Smith likes bright colors.
   • Mrs. Smith wears yellow polka-dot dresses.

   Ideas joined with a subordinate conjunction:

   • Because Mrs. Smith likes bright colors, she wears yellow polka-dot dresses.
   • Mrs. Smith wears yellow polka-dot dresses because she likes bright colors.