Connector (Connectives) Overview

Express relationship between sentence parts

Connector Chart

LINKING ADVERBS /
COORDINATORS PAIRED COORDINATORS SUBORDINATORS
TRANSITIONS

Coordinators join two words, These join equivalent sentence These join a dependent clause to an These join two clauses or
phrases or independent clauses. elements such as one noun independent clause. They occur at sentences. They can be used at
They mostly occur mid-sentence phrase with another noun the beginning of sentences with a the beginning of a sentence or
with a comma placed before the phrase. These occur as paired comma separating the clause mid- mid- sentence (with
conjunction. They may also begin words. (Also see Focusing sentence or they occur mid- punctuation). They transition the
a sentence¹. Adverbs.) sentence with no comma. reader from the thought of one
sentence to the thought in the
next.

It was cold, and the wind was He both lost his umbrella and Though it was raining, he continued He opened his umbrella.
blowing. (different subjects) became wet. walking. However, the wind blew it away.

It was raining, so he opened his
umbrella.
He opened his umbrella, but it
was blown backward.
He bought a good umbrella, yet it There was more wind than he
broke in the wind.
Neither his umbrella nor his
coat kept him dry.
His umbrella blew backward
and so did his coat.
expected.
The rain was as bad as the wind.
He walked though it was raining. It was windy and cold. Moreover,
it was raining.
Besides being windy, it was rainy.
His umbrella blew away in the
The wind was strong besides being wind. Otherwise, he would have
cold. used it.
In addition, it was windy and
cold.

ADDITION

and, also, and also both...and, not only ...also, not besides, in addition to in addition, furthermore,
only ... but also, and...too, and moreover, additionally, besides,
so firstly, secondly, next, finally

ALTERNATIVE

or, nor either...or, neither...nor , rather rather than(2) instead, as an alternative,

than (1) otherwise, rather

CAUSE-EFFECT / REASON

so, for so...that, such...that because, since, now that, as, in therefore, consequently, as a
order, as long as, inasmuch, because consequence, as a result, thus,
of, due to, owing to, so that, hence, accordingly
in order that, if only because

COMPARISON

as…as, more...than, less...than as (like), as if, as though In the same way, Similarly, In
contrast, Unlike X, Y

CONDITION

or else whether.. or not if, only if, unless, even if, otherwise, in the event (that),
whether, whether or anyway, anyhow
not, provided (that), in case, in
the event (that)
 CONTRARY CAUSE-EFFECT

but, yet, but still, but anyway neither... nor although, even though, though, nevertheless, nonetheless,
while, whereas, despite, in spite of, however, on the one hand, on
regardless of the other hand, in contrast to, in
contrast, on the contrary

EMPHASIS

indeed, in fact, of course,

certainly

PLACE

where, wherever

TIME

after, before, when, while, since, as, first, second, next, then, finally,
until, as soon as, by the time, once previously, now, presently, next,
still, meanwhile, subsequently,
afterward

¹ Beginning a sentence with and, so or but (comments by Fowler, Merriam-Webster and other grammarians.)

Also see Adverb Uses (an overview of adverbs and adverbials)

Grammar Notes

Terms in Various Grammar Systems

(Advanced)

Traditional and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION

COORDINATORS COORDINATORS

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so and, or, but, nor
— coordinator (Huddleston 4.2.2, 15-2.2)
conjunctions "connects words or phrases that have the same grammatical function in a — coordinators. coordinating conjunction
sentence. This use of conjunctions is called 'parallel structure'. " — (Azar 16-1) (Biber 2.4.7)
coordinating conjunctions " And and but are often used to connect two independent — coordinators (and, or, but, for) (Quirk 13.5-
clauses. " (Azar et al. 16-4) 10)

for, only and so+that "borderline connectors" /

prepositions (Huddleston 15 §2.11)
yet, but…still, but…anyway
— adjunct of
concession.coordinator (Huddleston 8 §13.2);
— conjunction (Swan 49) ;

PAIRED SUBORDINATORS PAIRED COORDINATORS

both…and, not only…but also, either…or, neither…nor both…and, not only…but also, either…or,
neither…nor
paired conjunctions: "The same grammatical form should follow each part of the paired — Focusing adverbs. (Huddleston et al. 6.7.3,
conjunctions. " — (Azar 16-3) 15.2.4) (Swan 24.6)
— Correlative coordinators. (Biber 2.4.7.1)
 — Focusing subjuncts. (Quirk 8.116)

SUBORDINATORS SUBORDINATORS

after, because, though, if yet, so

— adverb clauses (Azar 17.3-11) — connective adverbs (Huddleston 15 §2.10)
— linking adverb (Biber 887
— subordinator (Quirk 2.4.7.2)

after, as, as soon as, before, once, since while

— temporal adjunct.preposition (Huddleston et
al. 7.2.4, 8.63, 11.8)
— conjunction (Swan 29.1.1, 30.1, 510)
and (Quirk 8.53)

because, as, since, inasmuch as

— cause-effect adjunct.preposition (Huddleston
et al. 8 12.3)
— conjunction (Swan 94, 72) "subordinating
conjunction" (Biber 2.4.8)
— adverbial clause. reason (Quirk 15.45)

though, even though, although

— prepositions.concessive
adjuncts (Huddleston 8 §13.2);"
— conjunctions (Swan 49.1)
— circumstance adverbial.
concession.subordinator (Biber 10.2.8.9-11);
— adverbial clause (Quirk 15.39-40)

even so, nevertheless, nonetheless, despite,

regardless of, in spite of
— prepositions.concessive
adjuncts (Huddleston 8 §13.2);
— discourse markers. (Swan 157.2)

if, whether, unless

– condition adjunct.preposition (Huddleston
8.14)
– adverb "circumstance adverbial:Contingency "
(Biber 10.2, 10.2.1.4)
– conjunction (Swan 257)
– adverbial clause (Quirk 15.39,15.41-2)

after, before, since, when, while\

— temporal location
adjuncts.prepositions (Huddleston 8 §6.3;697)
— conjunctions (Swan 29.1, 30.1, 73, 97, 411.6,
510)
— subordinator.adverbial clause (Biber 2.4.7.5)
— subordinator. adverbial clause (Quirk 8.53,
15.28)

(See Grammar Notes on individual pages for

details.)

TRANSITION WORDS TRANSITION WORDS

moreover, however, otherwise so, yet, however

Connectives "transitions", "conjunctive adverbs", "Transitions connect the ideas of two — connective adverb (yet, however)
sentences. They are used most commonly in formal written English and rarely in spoken (Huddleston 6 §6,15 §2.9-10)
English. A transition occurs in the second of two related sentences." (Azar 19-2) — contrastive.linking adverb. (Biber 2.3.4,
7.14.3, 10.4.3.1)
— adverb (Swan 49.3)

then, next, besides, anyway, suddenly, however,

moreover, however, otherwise
— connective adjuncts (Huddleston 8 §19-20)
— connective adverb (Swan 22.1) discourse
markers. (Swan 157.1-21)
— linking adverbs. (Biber 10.4)
— conjuncts. (Quirk 8.137)
 Major changes: Many words that were analyzed as Adverb (category) have been reassigned to the category Preposition. "We count as
prepositions words that take other kinds of complement than NPs, and we also include in the preposition category some words that
occur without complement. i. According to Mary, we have no chance of winning. ii. The basket is outside. (Huddleston et al. 6.5.1) The
traditional category of "subordinating conjunctions" reanalyzed as prepositions (PP) with a content clause as the
complement (Huddleston 11.8.1)

CATEGORIES: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition;
AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective
FUNCTIONS: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complements: (elements required by verb) Object, Indirect Object,
Predicative Complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv

Resources

 Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. White Plains, New York: Pearson Longman, 2009.
Print.

 Biber, Douglas, and Stig Johansson, et al. Longman Grammar Of Spoken And Written English. Harlow: Pearson Education, 1999. Print.

 Huddleston, Rodney and Geoffrey K. Pullum, et al. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2002. Print.

 Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

 Quirk, Randolph and Sidney Greenbaum. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. 7th ed. New York: Longman Group, 1989. Print.

Connector Paragraph
Relate ideas in a paragraph with cause-effect connectors
Connector Options

CAUSE / REASON EFFECT CONTRAST / ADDITION OTHERS

CAUSE OUTCOME ADDITION PURPOSE

(be) caused by consequently / and in order to

(be) the result of as a result / as a consequence moreover so that

EMPHASIS / FOCUS

results from results in furthermore in fact

since therefore / so in addition / in addition to even / indeed

OUTCOME – CONTRARY CONTRAST TRANSITION

because / because of yet / even so however the main / first cause / the reason is

on account of though / although / even though but / while / whereas another / a third/ a fourth cause

due to regardless of the fact in contrast / in contrast to for all these reasons

CONDITION

as still / but still on the contrary otherwise / if not / or else

for the reason that nevertheless on the one/ other hand if / unless

Review of connectors : Connector Summary

Complete the paragraph with connectors (connectives).

1.Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.

1.Two 12-year-old girls are standing outside a mini-mart. They are wearing matching tube tops and short skirts like Britney Spears
clones. One holds a cigarette, like an adult, where everyone can see her. She looks around to make sure other girls are noticing her.
When asked why she dresses the way she does, she says that she likes it. - 1 – Moreover/However, it seems that the reason for her
behavior is more complex. More specifically, it has more to do with her ambiguous role as a pee-teen in society. A young girl's
wanna-be look is - 2 - because /caused by personal insecurity and peer pressure.

ambiguous (adj) – unclear, confusing, two-sided

clone (n.) - identical genetic copy

mimic (v.) - copy or imitate

mimicry (n.) a copy, an imitation

wanna-be (slang n.) – dressing and acting like a famous person, a pop idol: "want-to-be"; plural wanna-bes

Complete the paragraph with connectors (connectives).

1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "check" button.

-3-
for mimicking teen-idols is personal insecurity. (the main cause/another cause/a third

cause/a final cause) Pre-teens are in between

-4-
child and adult stages. They are no longer children, because/in contrast/as a result the ways

-5-
they behaved in the past are no longer appropriate. on the other hand/furthermore

-6-
they are not yet adults; therefore/ but still they do not know the ways of the adult world. This

-7- -8-
conflict can result from /result in feelings of insecurity. on the

contrary/in contrast when they were younger, they could whine and cry to get attention from their parents and

-9-
other children. however/although that kind of behavior would be "uncool" around their teenage

- 10 -
peers. Often as a result /as a cause, the preteen does not know how to act his or her age.

- 11 -
because /so preteens do no know what to do, they often turn to copy-cat behavior as a way to

fit in and be more secure.

 answers

The main cause

for mimicking teen-idols is personal insecurity. Pre-teens are in between

as a result
child and adult stages. They are no longer children, the ways they behaved in

On the other hand,

the past are no longer appropriate. they are not yet adults;

therefore, result in
they do not know the ways of the adult world. This conflict can

In contrast
feelings of insecurity. when they were younger, they could whine and cry to

How ever,
get attention from their parents and other children. that kind of behavior would be

as a result
"uncool" around their teenage peers. Often , the preteen does not know how to

Because
act his or her age. preteens do no know what to do, they often turn to copy-cat

behavior as a way to fit in and be more secure.