Conjunctions for balance and elegance

By Michael Kofi Ngongi

Among the things I remember most vividly from school is the following grammar rule: you cannot start a sentence with because, because because is a conjunction. A neat rule; simple and easy to understand.

Unfortunately, like a few other things I was taught in school (Pluto will always be a planet!), it turns out this was never quite true. Because you can start a sentence with because, or any other conjunction for that matter. But what are conjunctions? What do they do? What is their purpose?

Conjunctions operate the way hallways and staircases in a house do; they establish links and create connections between words, phrases and clauses. They enable us to form complex, elegant sentences while avoiding multiple, choppy and inelegant short sentences. They come in three types: coordinating, correlative and subordinating.

Coordinating conjunctions join and provide balance between equivalent phrases and clauses. The most common among these are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so; aka the FANBOYS. Think: to be or not to be; sweet and sour; some winter days are cold, yet bright and sunny.

Correlative conjunctions, such as neither/nor, come in pairs and work together to create a nice balance in a sentence. For example, remember Dr. Martin Luther King cautioning us that human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable.

Subordinating conjunctions link dependent and independent clauses and signal some relationship between the two, including showing contrast or a cause-and-effect relationship. Some common subordinating conjunctions include because, though, while, when, if. Think of T.S. Elliot reminding us that we are the music while the music lasts.

And next time someone quotes the conjunction rule to you, why not edify them by quoting in return these timeless words of wisdom by Ralph Waldo Emerson: Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us, or we find it not.

Michael Kofi Ngongi is a new Canadian originally from Cameroon, another bilingual country. He has experience in international development and is a freelance writer interested in language and its usage.