Linking Words

Can you link (conectar, enlazar)  two sentences together when you need to? If you can’t, help is at hand.(a mano, cerca ) In the following post we look at the most important linking words or “conjunctions” if you want to use the formal grammatical term.

What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that join (unen) clauses (oración) into sentences. In the following example we can see the relationship between the two clauses and conjunction in the sentence.

CLAUSE A	CONJUNCTION	CLAUSE B
I woke up early	because	I had a flight to Dublin at 7 o’clock

There are two types of conjunctions that exist in English. The first group are the seven coordinating conjunctions, while (mientras que ) the more extensive second group are known as subordinate conjunctions. Today we will  look at the first group.

Coordinating Conjunctions

When two independent clauses that are equally important occur in the sentence we use a coordinating conjunction to join the clauses together. These conjunctions have the following characteristics:

1. Each independent clause must be a sentence (frase)  before it is linked to another clause by a coordinating conjunction.

2. Coordinating conjunctions should normally be put between the two clauses. Some, “but” or “and” for example, can be placed at the beginning of sentences. This is often incorrect, so it is better not to use them in this position.

3. Commas occur before the coordinating conjunctions when there are long clauses. However, (sin embargo) in short clauses, the comma is omitted as we can see in the examples with “and” and “nor” in the table below.

Below we can see some coordinating conjunctions with a specific function and an example of how they are used.

Coordinating Conjunction	Function	Example
And (y/o)	Two similar ideas are joined together	He lives and works in Dublin.
But , yet (pero)	Two contrasting ideas are joined together	Valerie is very pretty, but Patrick is ugly.John plays Hurling well, yet his favourite Irish sport is Gaelic football.
Or (o/u)	Two alternative ideas are joined together	I could buy some cans (latas) of Guinness from the off-licence (tienda de bebidas alcohólicas ), or we could have some Guinness from one of the Irish pubs in town.
So (por eso)	The use of so indicates a result.	It was St. Patrick’s Day, so Norman decided to wear a green suit, shirt and tie to work.
Nor (ni)	Two negative ideas are joined together.	He is neither from Cork nor Belfast.
For (pues)	It shows that the second idea is the reason for the first sentence.	The visitors were happy resting in the shade(sombra), for it had been a tiring walk in the hilly countryside.

 Can You Pass The Conjunction Test?
Choose the correct coordinating conjunction from the box for five sentences below. There may be more than one answer possible.

and                   but                   yet                   or                      so                   nor

1.       Harry will have a holiday in London _____ Manchester.

2.       Paula is short,  ________ Paul is very tall.

3.       He is neither rich _____  poor.

4.       I live ______ work in Barcelona.

5.       I’m playing football today, ________ I’ll take my football kit with me.

Answers:

1.  or     2.  but, yet     3.  nor   4.  and      5.  so