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Grammar
Course: Grammar > Unit 5
Lesson 4: Correlative conjunctions and starting sentencesCorrelative conjunctions
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of words that connect ideas: "Either/or", "neither/nor", "both/and", "as/so", and "whether/or" are all examples of correlative conjunction pairs. When you see an "either", it's usually time to use its counterpart, "or".
Want to join the conversation?
- Does not only /but also work? ☺️(11 votes)
- It works very well, not only in Taiwanese, but also in English.(20 votes)
- this guy is nice(13 votes)
- Can you start a sentence off with "it" ?(7 votes)
- It is possible to start off a sentence with it.
It is three o'clock today.
It was a dark and stormy night.
It's beginning to seem a lot like Christmas.
It rains every day in the Amazon.(11 votes)
- Does not only /but also work?(5 votes)
- When you're padding out a term paper to meet the minimum word requirement, "not only, but also" is a great way to substitute for "and". It also gets you three extra words.(8 votes)
- Can you start a sentence with a name?(5 votes)
- Yes. Try this: "Homer, bring me the beans."(8 votes)
- Just a comment: Note how in this sentence: BOTH John AND Carol are good at math; The coorelative conjuction "both" can be removed and, still make a complete sentance. This shows that "both" is an add-on and isn't entirely needed to make the sentance neat.(6 votes)
- You're right. John and Carol are good at math. However, are they good ONLY when together? Are they each, independently good at math? Addition of "both" at the beginning of the sentence differentiates between them.(5 votes)
- can we use either / or for choosing both option?(5 votes)
- Either / or is a choice that excludes one side or the other.
If you want the option of two options, both of which can be chosen, you use "either or both".
For example: "Either India or Pakistan will win the war in Kashmir." "Either India or both India and Pakistan will lose if war breaks out again in Kahsmir."(6 votes)
- Is whichever a conjunction?(4 votes)
- According to the Webster's dictionary, "whichever" is a relative determiner & pronoun.(7 votes)
- Does the N mean No for Nor and Netheir(5 votes)
- There are many uses of the letter 'N', but I've not heard of it being used as you suggest. Where did you get that idea?(5 votes)
- Can you start a sentence with "Me" ?(4 votes)
- Let's try.
"Me," she cried, "throw the ball to me!"(6 votes)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Hey,
grammarians, today we're going to be talking about
correlative conjunctions and I know this this looks like
pretty ugly word, correlative, like, it's kind of
complicated looking but, let's break it down. This co part comes from the Latin, cum, meaning with or, together... And relative, well, we know
that the word relative is, like, your aunt or, your uncle or,
your cousin is a relative. So, we're just going to say, that just means relative or, related. So, correlative conjunctions, there we see it, definitionally
or, etymologically, are related together in some way. They're matched pairs;
they're a matching set. And this just means that,
when you see one, it's probably time to use the other. In this video, we'll go
through five of my favorites. So, either/or, is a good
pair to start off with. And when you start a sentence
with either or, either, I don't know how you say it. It sets up the expectation
that you're going to have to be choosing between two things,
so, we're going to say, or, later in the sentence,
as in, what is reputed to be Oscar Wilde's last words, either the wallpaper goes, or I do. The opposite of either/or is neither/nor. So, either/or sets up this
choice between two options and neither/nor rejects both options, so, neither Jia nor Becca liked Howard. And I recognize that I say neither and some of you say neither and there's a whole George Gershwin song about that but, let's just chalk it up to my Midwestern American accent, how 'bout? ♫ Either, either, neither, neither ♫ Let's learn about some conjunctions ♫ But oh, if we talk about the
both and you use and, and oh, ♫ If you learn to use conjunctions,
that is grand, oh yes ♫ Both Bigby and LaDoux
were career criminals. Why we're using both to indicate a connection between two things
and then we use and later in the sentence to really firm that up. As/so, is kind of an interesting one. It's a little formal and it kind of allows you to set up this relationship of consequence, right, to say, if
one thing is happening then, another thing happens
as a consequence, so... As goes Kansas, so goes the nation. So, you know, as one thing happens, so must another thing happen, is what this is trying to set up. Whether and or, is
similar to either and or, except it has a, kind of,
whiff of possibility about it. Whether you like shrimp or
chocolate, there's certain to be something for you at
the Veracruz food fair. Right, because whether is, kind of, setting up this possibility
between these two options and it doesn't really matter
which one you choose. It's just offering up possibilities. And I would like to offer you the possibility of checking out more of these correlative conjunctions in our exercises. So, stick around; you can learn anything. David out.