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Paired Conjunctions1 PDF

Paired conjunctions are used to join two grammatically equal elements and lend them equal weight. The four most common paired conjunctions are: either...or, neither...nor, not only...but (also), and both...and. The verb agrees with the closest noun when using these conjunctions.

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495 views2 pages

Paired Conjunctions1 PDF

Paired conjunctions are used to join two grammatically equal elements and lend them equal weight. The four most common paired conjunctions are: either...or, neither...nor, not only...but (also), and both...and. The verb agrees with the closest noun when using these conjunctions.

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amirul
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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 Paired conjunctions are often used in both spoken and written English to make a point, give

an explanation, or discuss alternatives.

 Paired conjunctions are sometimes known as correlative conjunctions, and they always join
grammatically equal elements (e.g., noun & noun, adjective & adjective, phrase & phrase,
clause & clause, etc.). They also lend equal weight to the joined elements; which is to say,
one joined element is always equal to but never subordinate to the other.

 The verb agrees with the closest noun.

 Below are four paired conjunctions commonly used in English:


 either ..... or
 neither ..... nor
 not only ..... but (also)
 both ..... and

.- It is related to preference.
Examples:
 Put your earnings either in a bank or in a treasury account. (one or the other)
 Either you or Susan has to remain with me. (one or the other)
 They objected to either following the book or keeping the central theme. (one or the other)

.- It is for negative addition: Not X AND not Y.


Examples:
 Neither the movie nor the play was good. (singular verb form)
 Neither smoking nor drinking is permitted in his house. (singular verb form)
 Neither I nor my son carries a mobile phone. (a singular noun.)

.- They join like (same word form) elements in a


sentence. The verb agrees with closest noun. When Not only. . . but also begins a sentence and
joins two verbs, the auxiliary verb precedes the subject.
Examples:
 I liked not only the movie but also the play.
 The directors wanted not only to win but also to receive recognition for their work.
 Not only does Ebert like but also recommends the movie.

.- They join like (same word form) elements in a sentence.


Examples:
 We both applauded and stood up.
 Beth became angry both with our singing and our shouting.
 Both the teacher and the principal were furious. (plural verb form)

Performed by: Alexandra Jiménez


Exercise 1: Write the conjunction that best completes the sentence.

1. _______________ you but also Paul forgot to do the annual report last week.
2. You will need to finish it by _______________ today or tomorrow. Just get it done by
Friday.
3. _______________ you and Paul have been wasting too much time.
4. I will take _______________ yours nor Paul's excuses anymore.
5. _______________ does she yell at me, but also she screams at me.
6. _______________ she stops yelling at me or I quit.
7. _______________ do I want to quit, nor do I have the savings to be able to quit.
8. She _______________ annoys and angers me.
9. My boss not only overlooks my achievements, _______________ avoids giving me
compliments.
10. Neither do I want trouble, _______________ I ask for it.

Exercise 2: Match the sentence halves to make a complete sentence.

A B
1. Both Peter ___ a. but we have enough money.
2. Not only do we want to go ___ b. neither true nor realistic.
3. Either Jack will have to work more hours ___ c. not only wise to listen to your parents
but also interesting.
4. That story was ___ d. and I are coming next week.
5. Students who do well not only study hard ___ e. either his career or his hobby.
6. In the end he had to choose ___ f. both my laptop and my cell phone on
holiday.
7. Sometimes it is ___ g. but also use their instincts if they do
not know the answer.
8. I would love to take ___ h. or we will have to hire somebody new.

Exercise 3: Choose the correct option to complete the sentences.

1. ___ my brother ___ I are good students.


a. both / and b. neither / nor c. both / nor

2. Each year, ___ my brother ___ I win an achievement award.


a. either / and b. neither / or c. either / or

3. Last year, my brother ___ won "best in academics", ___ he won "best in sports" awards.
a. both / and also b. not only / but also c. not only / and also

4. ___ he ___ I wants to lose at anything. We're very competitive.


a. neither / and b. neither / nor c. either / or

5. Not only ___ us to work hard, but also ___ when we succeed.
a. do our parents encourage / they reward
b. our parents encourage / they do reward
c. our parents do encourage / they reward

6. Neither my brother nor I ___ to disappoint them.


a. want b. wants c. do want

Performed by: Alexandra Jiménez

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