General English
Conjunctions: Joining Words and Ideas
Understand coordinating, subordinating and correlative conjunctions with exam-focused pairs.
Study progress
1. Coordinating
FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. They join equal grammatical units.
2. Subordinating
because, although, if, unless, when, while, before, after, since, etc. They introduce dependent clauses.
3. Correlative Pairs
either...or, neither...nor, not only...but also, both...and, whether...or.
4. Pair Matching
Do not mix pairs: neither...nor, either...or. With not only...but also, keep parallel structure.
5. Exam Traps
“Although” and “but” are generally not used together in the same simple clause. “Because” and “therefore” should not be redundantly paired.
Memory Tricks & Quick Recall
Coordinating = FANBOYS. Correlative pairs: E-N, E-O, N-N, B-A, N-B (Either/Neither/Not only/Neither etc.); always learn them as pairs.