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Grammar
Course: Grammar > Unit 5
Lesson 3: Introduction to conjunctionsSubordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions like "despite" and "although" are used to join independent and dependent clauses together. This is called a "complex sentence". "Although she couldn't stand him, Melinda took a cross-country trip with Jerry."
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- Are those all the subordinating conjunctions, most or only a few?(14 votes)
- There are a LOT of 'em out there, Ritik. I would say these are a large handful of them, but certainly it's not an exhaustive list.(32 votes)
- So do you have to just know that "but" is a coordinating conjunction and "although" is a subordinating conjunction in order to make the distinction? It seems as though he is saying that you can tell which one is which by checking to see whether or not it can stand on it's own, but they both do the same thing depending on whether or not you leave the conjunction in.
"Beckany Prefered to sweep the floor." (Stands Alone)
"She loved Sir Reginald." (Stands Alone)
Neither one seems to stand alone if you add the conjunction back in though.
"but Beckany prefered to sweep the floor." (yeah, so what?)
"although she loved Sir Reginald." (Yeah, so what?)
I don't understand what the "Yeah, so what?" test does.(12 votes)- I too am having trouble with the difference between "but" and "although". This may well be because English is not my native language, but at least I thought I'd found some kind of system that allows me to differentiate between them. To me it seems possible to say both Although I like ice cream, I prefer chocolate and _ I like ice cream but I prefer chocolate_ without changing the meaning. If the words in some instances can be used interchangeably, it's hard to see why "but" is classified only as a coordinating conjunction. If anything, it should be supraordinating - but that class does not exist! "But" logically cannot be subordinating, because what comes after the "but" is the opposite clause of what comes after "although" when the sentences mean the same.
Then I checked my Shorter Oxford English of 1950 and read that but as a conjunction introduces in a complex sentence the subordinate clause... and that in a compound sentence it can connect the two coordinate members.
Does not this mean that "but" can be either a coordinating conjunction or a subordinating conjunction depending on context?
I do agree that a sentence of the structure John likes x, but Jane likes y is a coordinating conjunction, but it does not feel right in the ice cream example above.
I'm not sure if you consider this an answer, Adam, and I'm not expert here - just interested, but I think it is better to regard this as a discussion than a new question. Sort of figuring out why we are not happy that "but" and "although" are always in different categories, so that someone in the know can know how to enlighten us.(13 votes)
- but Beckany preferred to sweep the floor, Although she loved sir Reginald. aren't this both dependent conjunctions? 3:42(5 votes)
- no they arent both dependent conjunctions but you will learn so um yea(0 votes)
- Are these all the same conjunctions??(3 votes)
- No there are two types: subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.(3 votes)
- Can "However" be a Subordinating conjunctions(3 votes)
- Let's try it.
She was his intellectual superior, however he was her boss.
However rich he may have been, she was his intellectual superior.
However you may slice it, it's still baloney.(3 votes)
- And the subordinating exampe atcan be combined with "but" as well so it can be combined with a coordinating conjunction, right? It can be combined like "She loved Sir Reginald, but Lady Penelope hated his pranks." 3:55(2 votes)
- You could make the sentence "She loved Sir Reginald, but Lady Penelope hated his pranks." However, you would be changing its structure.
You originally had the dependent clause "Although she loved Sir Reginald" and the independent clause "Lady Penelope hated his pranks."
Your new sentence consists of the independent clause "She loved Sir Reginald" connected with a comma and the coordinating conjunction "but" to the independent clause Lady Penelope hated his pranks."
Both could be acceptable, but they have different kinds of clauses.(3 votes)
- i didn't quit understand what a clause is...?(2 votes)
- A clause is a basically a group of words, a word chunk, that has a subject and a finite verb. If the clause can be a sentence, it's an independent clause, and if not, it's dependent.(3 votes)
- I just wanted to ask when and when not to use a conjunction. I understand a conjunctions purpose, but not exactly when to use them. There are some sentences that do not seem to be able to go together, conjunction or not.(2 votes)
- In that case, those sentences are perhaps better off never being joined. Kind of like, "My sister has pneumonia and submarines can move along under water." It just doesn't work, does it? But if I write, "Ocean liners are surface ships and submarines move along under water." That works.
Look at these.
Birds fly but seals swim.
Ducks quack and gulls screech.
Some scouts make fires, and other scouts sell cookies.(3 votes)
- Do you not use a comma when there is an independent clause connected to a dependent clause via a conjunction.
For example: I love baking and riding my bicycles.
"I love baking" is a dependent clause
"riding my bicycle" is a dependent clause(2 votes)- Whether you need a comma when you’re connecting a dependent clause to an independent clause depends on the clauses’ order. If the dependent clause comes first, you do need a comma, as in this example with the independent clause in bold: “When I left school for the day, I had already eaten.”
If the independent clause comes first, you do not need a comma. For example: “I had already eaten when I left school for the day.”
For your example, you’re right that you don’t need a comma. However, “I love baking and riding my bicycle” is a simple sentence, which is just one independent clause. Remember, every clause must contain at least one subject and at least one verb. “Baking” and “riding my bicycle” are actually gerund phrases (phrases which center on a form of a verb that’s behaving as a noun) that are direct objects of the verb “love”.
Does that help?(3 votes)
- jimothy liked to wash the dishes but beckany preferred to sweep the floor
so my question is is it not supposed to be and beckany not but beckany(2 votes)- 1) Please permit me to punctuate your post, and attempt an answer to what I assume you are attempting to ask.
2)Jimothy liked to wash the dishes, but Beckany preferred to sweep the floor.
So, my question is: is it not supposed to be "and Beckany" not "but Beckany"?
(Do you see how the addition of a few capital letters, commas, quotation marks and a bit of end punctuation makes things clearer?)
In answer to your question:
IF the point of the sentence is to contrast the preferred tasks of each person, then the conjunction is "but".
IF the intent is to show how they cooperated at getting the apartment cleaned up, then the conjunction is "and".
The choice of conjunction depends on the intent of the sentence.(3 votes)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Hey, grammarians. Today let's start talking about
subordinating conjunctions. Words like, although
and after and because. It's a pretty complicated topic, because in order to understand
subordinating conjunctions, you have to understand the difference between an independent,
and a dependent clause. Because that's what
subordinating conjunctions do, is they unite independent
and dependent clauses. That's what subordinating conjunctions do. But, what are these? You know, what is an independent
and a dependent clause? Well okay so first of
all, let's back up again. What is a clause? A clause is just a language chunk that has a subject and a verb. That's what a clause does. All sentences are clauses, but not all clauses are sentences. I'll write that down. So, all sentences are clauses, but not all clauses are sentences. It's possible to have
something that has both a subject and a verb, that
doesn't stand on its own, and that's a dependent clause. We'd call that a sentence fragment. What a dependent clause does, is provide extra information
that isn't necessary to the understanding
of the sentence, right. But an independent clause has to be able to stand on its own. So, let's take a look
at the sentence here. Herbert performed his
irresponsible experiments because he was curious. And this sentence is
composed of two clauses. In red, we've got this independent clause, Herbert performed his
irresponsible experiments. And in green, we have
this dependent clause, because he was curious. Now, we know that because he was curious, is the dependent clause. Because, it explains more of
why Herbert did what he did. Right, it is explaining the reason for his performing
irresponsible experiments. But, because he was curious on its own, doesn't work as a sentence,
he was curious does. That's a sentence. But, because he was curious asks more questions than it answers. Because he was curious, what? You know, if a clause causes you to ask. Yeah, so what? Then it's probably a dependent
clause, write that down. Put that in the doctrine. So, a dependent clause should cause you to ask, yeah so what? Because a dependent clause leans against an independent clause. It's like a ladder laid
up against the tree. The tree is still gonna be standing there whether or not the ladder is there or not. But, the ladder is useful
because it allows you to get up further into the tree
and explore its leaves, if that makes sense. It allows you to get further context and further understanding. But the tree could just as easily, it's still a tree without the ladder. Right, you don't have to have a ladder in order to be a tree. All right so, another
thing about the difference between a coordinating and
a subordinating conjunction, is that coordinating conjunctions only unite independent
clauses with each other. Which means, any sentence that has a coordinating conjunction like, but or anything else in fanboys,. Which is for and nor,
but, or yet so, right. Can be separated into two
sentences, two separate sentences. Look at this, so Jimothy
liked to wash the dishes, but Beckany preferred to sweep the floor. Now these can each be their own sentences. Jimothy liked to wash the dishes. Beckany preferred to sweep the floor. We can combine these if
we want to and, we have. Whereas, this subordinating
conjunction sentence that begins with although, cannot be separated into two sentences. Although she loved Sir Reginald, Lady Penelope hated his pranks. So, Lady Penelope hated his
pranks, that's a sentence. Although she loved Sir
Reginald, that's not a sentence. This is a dependent clause
so, this can be split. (mouth sound effects) This cannot be split, because although she loved Sir Reginald, doesn't stand on its own, it
just grants additional context and detail to the fact that Lady Penelope hated Sir Reginald's pranks. So, with that in mind, here are some of the most common subordinating
conjunctions in English. And some of these you might
recognize as being adverbs or prepositions in other contexts, but you could also use them to unite dependent and
independent clauses. So, here we go. After, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, if only, like, rather than, since, that, though, unless, until, when, where, whereas, wherever, whether, which, and, while. All of these words have the power to unite independent
and dependent clauses. You may notice some of them like, after and before, are prepositions. They can be used in many ways. English is complicated, but I am confident that you can figure this out because you can learn anything. These are some of the subordinating
conjunctions of English. David out.