A conjunction is a word or phrase that connects words, phrases, clauses, and sentences together. Conjunctions are useful in writing and speech to connect related ideas together, and they help us make our sentences shorter, less repetitive, or less confusing. There are three basic types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.

• Coordinating conjunctions: This type of conjunction is used to connect items that are grammatically equal, such as two words, two phrases, or two independent clauses. There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English, and you can remember them using the mnemonic device FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

• Subordinating conjunctions: This type of conjunction includes words like because, if, although, since, until, and while. A subordinating conjunction is used to introduce a dependent clause. In contrast to an independent clause, a dependent clause (also known as a subordinate clause) is a group of words that contains a subject and a verb but cannot stand as a complete sentence on its own.

• Correlative conjunctions: Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together, such as either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also.

Conjunctions are very useful words that connect parts of speech together to form more complex sentences. They help us write better sentences that are more coherent and easier to understand.