Conjunctions ‘AND’, ‘OR’, ‘BUT’

By Eric Hoopengardner

Vocabulary List• Conjoin- To join together; unite; combine;

associate. (click mouse now)

• Similar- Having a likeness or resemblance, especially in a general way. (click mouse now)

• Passenger cars – A railcar where passengers

ride. (click mouse now)

Conjunctions! What Are They.• A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects (conjoins) parts of a

sentence.– They can join:– Words– Phrases– Sentence parts

• Think of a conjunction as if it were a train. The engine and passenger cars connect to form a train.

• There are 3 types of conjunctions– Coordinating– Subordinating– Correlative

Coordinating Conjunctions• For our lesson today we will be focusing on

coordinating conjunctions, specifically, (AND) (OR) (BUT).

• Coordinating conjunctions may join single words, or they may join groups of words, but they must always join similar elements.

Conjunction (And)• The conjunction ‘And’ is used to join two

similar ideas together.– For example Kait likes apples and peaches.

• Notice how the conjunction ‘and’ is joining the two nouns apples and peaches.

Conjunction (And)• ‘And’ can also be used to join 2 sentences.– For example: • Kait’s dog is big.• Kait’s dog is furry.

– Kait’s dog is the subject of both sentences, and both big and furry are both adjectives describing the dog.

• Kait’s dog is big and furry. We insert the conjunction ‘and’ we have now formed a new sentence.

Practice

• Take the two sentences below can we conjoin them?– The sun is big.– The sun is bright.

• We can because we have the same subject in each sentence.• We also have two adjectives big and bright describing the sun.• So we can insert the conjunction ‘and’ and form the new

sentence The sun is big and bright. • So yes we can conjoin then by using ‘and’

Conjunction (or)• The conjunction ‘or’ can be used to suggest that

you have a choice between one thing or the other.

– For example: You may either have a pizza or burger’s for lunch.

– Notice how we can only have a pizza or a burger for lunch. It is one or the other.

Conjunction (but)

• The conjunction ‘but’ is used to join two different ideas together.

– For example Carlos wanted to watch TV but he didn’t finish his homework.

• We know Carlos wants to watch TV however he cannot because he didn’t finish his homework.

Conjunction Junction • Now let us watch a short video on

conjunctions and see how they are used in English.

• Conjunction

Lets practice• Lets practice putting the conjunctions ‘or’ ‘but’ ‘and’ into the

following sentences.

1. The Titanic hit an iceberg ____ sank.

2. You may only have French fries _____ apple sauce.

3. The light burnt out _____ Max had a spare.

4. The planet Saturn has rings ______ many moons.

5. The class must decide between going to the library ____ museum.

6. We wanted to play soccer ____ the ball was flat.

Lets practice• Lets practice putting the conjunctions ‘or’ ‘but’ ‘and’ into the

following sentences.

1. The Titanic hit an iceberg ____ sank.

2. You may only have French fries _____ apple sauce.

3. The light burnt out _____ Max had a spare.

4. The planet Saturn has rings ______ many moons.

5. The class must decide between going to the library ____ museum.

6. We wanted to play soccer ____ the ball was flat.

AND

AND

BUT

OR

OR

BUT

Review• A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects

(conjoins) parts of a sentence.

• Coordinating conjunctions may join single words, or they may join groups of words, but they must always join similar elements.

• ‘AND’ is used to join two similar ideas together.• ‘OR’ can be used to suggest that you have a choice

one thing or the other.• ‘BUT’ is used to join two different ideas together.

Sources Used

• http://newton.uor.edu/facultyfolder/rider/conjunctions.htm

• http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/conjunctions.htm