大象传媒

What are conjunctions?

An illustration of a young boy smiling.

Conjunctions are joining words that link two parts of a sentence together.

Some examples include:

  • because

  • and

  • or

  • but

An illustration of a young boy smiling.
Back to top

Watch: Using 'because' in writing

Watch the following Teacher Talk video to learn more about conjunctions with Ms Williams.

Learn more about using conjunctions in your writing with Ms Williams.

Back to top

What is a clause?

An illustration of a young boy pointing.

A clause is a group of words that go together that make up parts of sentences.

A clause must have a subject and a verb.

A conjunction can be used to join clauses together in a sentence.

For example:

Lewis smiled

The park was fun

You can add the conjunction 鈥榖ecause鈥 in between these clauses so the sentence reads:

Lewis smiled because the park was fun!

An illustration of a young boy pointing.
Back to top

What are subordinate conjunctions?

An illustration of a young girl thinking.

When you add conjunctions to a sentence, they create a subordinate clause.

A subordinate clause is a group of words that add more information to the clause you've already got.

You can spot a subordinate clause because it is often linked to the main clause by one of these conjunctions:

An illustration of a young girl thinking.
Back to top

Watch: Subordinating conjunction

Find out how to join sentences together using words like 'because' and 'when'.

Back to top

Activity 1

The word 'because' is a very important conjunction.

It is a subordinate conjunction and it is used to explain why something has happened.

For example:

Jayati wore a scarf because it was cold outside.

By using the conjunction 'because', we know the reason for Jayati鈥檚 actions.

Copy out these sentences and finish them by completing what comes after 'because'.

  1. Amir laughed loudly because 鈥

  2. Charlotte put on her shiny shoes because 鈥

  3. Jackson rubbed his eyes because 鈥

  4. The lion lay down low in the tall grass because 鈥

  5. The footballer fell to the floor because 鈥

Copy out these sentences and finish them by completing what comes after 'because'.

  1. Amir laughed loudly because 鈥

  2. Charlotte put on her shiny shoes because 鈥

  3. Jackson rubbed his eyes because 鈥

  4. The lion lay down low in the tall grass because 鈥

  5. The footballer fell to the floor because 鈥

Back to top

Activity 2

An illustration of a young boy smiling with question marks around him.

Choose five different animals.

Write a sentence for each animal that uses the word 'because' to explain their actions.

For example:

The frog looked cool because it was wearing sunglasses!

An illustration of a young boy smiling with question marks around him.
Back to top

Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers. game

Use grammar, punctuation and spelling skills to explore jungles, caves and tombs on your mission!

Play our fun English game Crystal Explorers
Back to top

More on Grammar

Find out more by working through a topic