We explain what coordinating conjunctions are in grammar, the characteristics of each type and multiple examples in sentences.
What are coordinating conjunctions?
In grammar, conjunctions are known as the type of words that serve as a link between propositions, phrases or words, that is, conjunctions link sentences or parts of speech, providing cohesion to the language. These are words endowed with a grammatical meaning, that is, they lack their own meaning, and fulfill a relational, syntactic role within the sentence.
Conjunctions are a very common type of word, present in all languages. Their role is fundamental for an orderly and cohesive discourse, and they can generally be classified into two large groups:
- Coordinating Conjunctions or own, which link grammatical units leaving them at the same syntactic level, that is, without hierarchizing them and without altering the joint meaning.
- Subordinate or improper conjunctions, which link non-interchangeable grammatical units, since one (subordinate) has a higher hierarchy than the other (subordinate).
Thus, coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinative, construct phrases or sentences in which a global meaning remains unchanged, regardless of which element comes before and which after. Some examples of this type of conjunctions in Spanish are: and, and, or, neither, or, I mean, well, Yes OK, more, but, although, among other.
Types of coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions can be of different types, depending on the type of relationship they propose between the linked terms. Thus, we talk about:
- Copulative coordinating conjunctions. They are those that link elements through an accumulation of terms, either in a positive sense (addition) or negative (subtraction), depending on their own meaning. For example, when using “and”, we are adding an element with a positive meaning to the sentence, as in “I brought the potatoes and the onions “(or, what is the same,” I brought the onions and potatoes”); while by using “ni”, we are adding an element with a negative sense, as in “I did not get potatoes neither onions “(or, what is the same,” I did not get onions neither potato”). Another such conjunction is “e”.
- Disjunctive coordinating conjunctions. They are those that link elements through a relationship of mutual exclusion, that is, raising a case in which the two things cannot occur at the same time, but we must opt for one. For example, the link “or” in “Do you want to go to the movies? or Go for a walk?” (“Do you want to go for a walk or go to the movies?”); or the link “or” in “We can buy a car or a motorcycle, O well save that money ”. Another such conjunction is “u”.
- Adverse coordinating conjunctions. They are those that, when linking the syntactic elements, also oppose them, that is, they pose a relationship of contradiction between the two. For example, the link “but” in “I want to see you, but I must work”; or the “but” nexus in “They don’t offer me solutions otherwise more inconveniences ”. Other conjunctions of this type are: “more”, “although”, “nevertheless”, “nevertheless”, “although” or “on the contrary”.
- Distributive coordinating conjunctions. They are those that link elements by distributing them in the sentence, that is, by distributing them in some way. These are not links in a strict sense, since they actually fulfill a semantic role within the sentence and operate through the juxtaposition of the elements. For example, the case of “sea” in “I’m going to love the baby, be female or be male”; or the case of “ya” in “We’ll go to London anyway, already By train, already by boat, already by air ”. Other conjunctions of this type are: “si”, “ora” or “even”, always repeated within the sentence.
- Explanatory coordinating conjunctions. They are those that link elements that express the same meaning, but in a different way, in order to better explain what has been said. They generally appear isolated between commas or pauses of some kind. For example, the case of “ie” in “We will buy shares of the company, that is to say, we will invest ”; or the case of “better said” in “My cousin is Italian, or rather, Milanese ”. Other conjunctions of this type are: “that is”, “this is”, “I mean”.