There are three types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.
Coordinating conjunctions
These conjunctions connect two elements comparable in importance and structure. These elements may be single words or groups of words, as long as they are grammatically equal or similar, like two nouns, two phrases, or two independent clauses.
The seven coordinating conjunctions in English are: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet. Of these, and, but, or, and so, are used the most.
Spring and fall are usually mild in this state.
The coordinating conjunction “and” links two nouns.
This meat cookery book is particularly bizarre, for a vegan wrote it.
The coordinating conjunction “for” links two independent clauses.
Sonia spent last summer hacking through jungle and nursing insect bites.
The coordinating conjunction “and” links the participial phrases “hacking through jungle” and “nursing insect bites.”
Subordinating conjunctions
A subordinating conjunction connects two unequal parts of a sentence, linking a dependent clause to a main clause.
I ate the porridge (main clause), although it was stone-cold (dependent clause).
The most common subordinating conjunctions are after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, until, when, where, whether, and while.
Unlike coordinating conjunctions, which always come between the words or clauses they conjoin, subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.
John felt drowsy after he finished his supper.
“After” introduces the subordinate clause “he finished his supper.”
If Ben is a good boy, he can watch cartoons after supper.
“If” introduces the subordinate clause “Ben is a good boy.”
Peter had to begin counting marbles over again when he lost count.
The subordinating conjunction “when” introduces the dependent clause “he lost count.”
Frequent travelers argue that aisle seats are better because passengers can stretch their legs.
In this sentence, “because” introduces the dependent clause “passengers can stretch their legs.”
Correlative conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions always appear in pairs and consist of a coordinating conjunction and an adjective or adverb. Their role is to join grammatically equal sentence elements. The most common are both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, and as/as.
Both my cousin Jack and my uncle Bubba are over six feet tall.
In this sentence, the correlative conjunction “both...and” is used to link the two noun phrases.
Take either a savory sandwich or a slice of apple cake.
Here the correlative conjunction “either...or” links two noun phrases: “a savory sandwich” and “a slice of apple cake.”
Are there different types of conjunctions?