Page 76 - DENG103_English - I

Unit 6: Parts of Speech: Interjections and Conjunctions

Notes
• When a second that can clear up who said or did what: “The CEO said that Isabel’s
department was slacking off and that production dropped precipitously in the fourth
quarter.” (Did the CEO say that production dropped or was the drop a result of what
he said about Isabel’s department? The second that makes the sentence clear.)

Beginning a Sentence with Because
Somehow, the notion that one should not begin a sentence with the subordinating
conjunction because retains a mysterious grip on people’s sense of writing proprieties. This
might come about because a sentence that begins with because could well end up a fragment
if one is not careful to follow up the “because clause” with an independent clause.
• Because e-mail now plays such a huge role in our communications industry.

When the “because clause” is properly subordinated to another idea (regardless of the
position of the clause in the sentence), there is absolutely nothing wrong with it:
• Because e-mail now plays such a huge role in our communications industry, the
postal service would very much like to see it taxed in some manner.

Correlative Conjunctions

Some conjunctions combine with other words to form what are called correlative conjunctions.
They always travel in pairs, joining various sentence elements that should be treated as grammatically
equal.
• She led the team not only in statistics but also by virtue of her enthusiasm.

• Polonius said, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.”
• Whether you win this race or lose it doesn’t matter as long as you do your best.

Correlative conjunctions sometimes create problems in parallel form.

both . . . and neither . . . nor
not only . . . but also whether . . . or
not . . . but as . . . as
either . . . or

Conjunctive Adverbs

The conjunctive adverbs such as however, moreover, nevertheless, consequently, as a result are used
to create complex relationships between ideas.

6.3 Summary

• Some words are satisfied spending an evening at home, alone, eating ice-cream right out
of the box, watching Seinfeld re-runs on TV, or reading a good book. Others aren’t
happy unless they’re out on the town, mixing it up with other words; they’re joiners and
they just can’t help themselves. A conjunction is a joiner, a word that connects (conjoins)
parts of a sentence.

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