CONJUNCTIONS AND LINKING WORDS

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are used to connect sentences to each other. There are two groups of
conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions combine sentences or parts of a sentence of equal
value. Subordinating conjunctions start subordinate clauses. Conjunctions bring versatility to
sentence structures and should be actively used.

Parallel conjunctions

Supplement, addition, comparison

and 1. Both Mary and Eric are coming to the party.

both - and 2. Not only Mary but also Eric is coming to the party.
not only - but also 3. You become less selfish as well as learning how to
as well as interact with other people.
as 4. Mary is as funny as Sam.
as - as

Alternatives

or 5. Neither Mary nor Eric will be coming to the party.

either - or 6. Will either Mary or Eric be coming to the party?
neither - nor 7. Mary has not been invited to the party because otherwise
otherwise Eric would not come.

Contrast

but 8. Eric is coming to the party, whereas Mary is not.

whereas/while 9. Eric is coming to the party, yet Mary is not.
yet

Cause

so 10. Mary and Eric don’t get along, so we can only invite one
of them.
therefore 11. Therefore, I suggest we invite neither of them.

Subordinating conjunctions

Time

after 11. After the incident at the party, Mary was no longer on
as speaking terms with Eric.
before 12. Mary arrived just as Eric was arriving.
not until 13. Mary arrived before Eric arrived.
now that 14. Mary did not arrive until Eric arrived.
since 15. Now that both Mary and Eric have arrived, we can
until/till start.
when 16. Mary and Eric have been awfully quiet since they arrived
once at the party.
whenever 17. We can’t start until both Mary and Eric have arrived.
while 18. When both Mary and Eric had arrived, we started.
as long as 19. Once both Mary and Eric arrived, we started.
as soon as 20. Whenever Mary talks, Eric interrupts.
21. While Mary was talking, Eric interrupted.
22. Eric will come to the party, as long as you don’t invite
Mary.
23. As soon as Mary arrived, Eric left.

Reason

As, because, since NB: You can only use the forms 'cause, cos, coz in informal
colloquial speech, not in written texts.

24. Eric is not coming to the party as / since / because Mary

is (coming).

Condition

if NB: Unless is negative, so do not use another

unless negation word with it.
as long as
in case 25. If Mary comes to the party, Eric will not (come).
provided that 26. Unless Mary comes to the party, Eric will not (come).
27. As long as you don’t invite Mary to the party, Eric will
come.
28. In case it rains, you should bring an umbrella.
29. Eric will come provided (that) Mary doesn’t.

Purpose

so (that) He is selling his guitar in order to get some extra cash.

in order that
30. He is selling his guitar so (that) he can get some extra
cash.

Concession

(al)though and even though 31. (Al)though / even though he sold his guitar to get some
even if extra cash, he still wouldn’t manage to raise enough money.
32. Even if he sold his guitar, he wouldn’t be able to raise
enough cash.

Other

in spite of 33. In spite of / Despite the bad weather, he went for a

despite walk.
1 Tackle **
Use a linking device from the box to fill the gaps.

when as long as both … and now that although once and as well as

1. _____________ I have started high school, I have joined a group called Let’s Get Global. Our
group meets on a weekly basis, 2. _____________ we aim to develop projects to contribute
towards meeting the United Nations’ Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). At the
beginning of each year, 3. _____________ a fresh bunch of first-year students joins our group, we
decide together which of the SDGs we wish to focus on for the year. 4. _____________ we have
made that decision, we start brainstorming possible projects that we could develop throughout the
year. Our projects work 5. _____________ at the level of our school community 5. _____________
our local community, 6. _____________ having a more global reach.

In relation to our global actions, we have an ongoing cooperation with a group of female
entrepreneurs in Kampala, Uganda. Throughout the year we raise money in a variety of ways to
fund cooperation projects with our partners in Uganda. In our most recent project with this group,
we raised funds to buy a machine to produce biofuel briquettes from local farming waste.

Once every two years a group of students travels to Uganda with the teacher who supervises our
group. 7. _____________ many of us were a little apprehensive before we set off on our trip to
Uganda last year, everything went smoothly, and the experience was truly enlightening. 8.
_____________ you keep an open mind, such an experience is truly enriching.

2 Tackle **
Choose the correct option.
1. I always go out with my friends at the weekend unless / as long as the weather is bad.
2. I always go out with my friends at the weekend unless / as long as the weather is good.
3. I like to play video in the evening unless / if I have time.
4. I like to play video in the evening unless / if I am busy.
5. She told me to call her if / when I need any help with my homework.
6. She told me to call her if / when my homework was done.
7. The teacher told the students to bring a snack with them just in case / if they got hungry
before lunch. ( = The teacher is advising all students to bring a snack with them.)
8. The teacher told the students to bring a snack with them only in case / if they thought they
might need something to eat before lunch. ( = The teacher is advising only those students
who think that they might get hungry before lunch to bring a snack with them.)
9. Despite / Although not being strong in mathematics, she managed to pass the test.
10. Despite / Although she was not strong in mathematics, she managed to pass the test.
11. I doubt that she will finish the essay on time even if / if she works hard.
12. I am sure that she will finish the essay on time even if / if she works hard.
Signposting and linking words

Connective adverbs are used to join parallel main clauses, and they are separated from the rest
of the sentence with a comma. They are common in written language, especially in academic,
formal writing.

Order

first, firstly NB: Use these in your essays to make it clear to the
first of all reader in what order you are dealing with issues.
second, secondly
third, thirdly 1. Firstly, you should introduce yourself. 2. Next, you
to start/begin with should explain the aims of the project, and finally, you
next should outline the plan.
last
finally
in brief, in short
in a nutshell

Adding

additionally, in addition 3. Besides outlining the plan, you should mention the
besides budget, in addition to getting some feedback from the
furthermore investors.
moreover
what’s more

Conclusion, opposite, consequence

accordingly 4. However, you need to be prepared that the investors

all the same/even so might not want to give you feedback before having a
as a consequence chance to discuss the venture amongst themselves
consequently first.
as a result 5. All the same, it is worth asking them for feedback.
for all that 6. Nonetheless, don’t be disappointed if they don’t give
for this reason you immediate feedback. 7. On the contrary, you need
however, still, yet to try to maintain a positive attitude throughout the
instead negotiation.
nevertheless 8. That’s why it can help to smile because smiling
nonetheless releases endorphins, which can make you feel happier.
on one hand
on the contrary
on the other hand
so
that’s why
therefore
thus

Example

for example 9. In other words, if you smile, it can help to improve

for instance your mood.
in other words
namely
that is
 Emphasising

actually 10. Generally, when you are in a good mood, this can
especially put others in a good mood too.
generally 11. Obviously and importantly, if we manage to put
indeed our potential investors in a good mood, it will be more
in fact likely that they will invest in our project.
in particular
importantly
obviously

Summarising

all in all 12. All in all, our final aim is to get the investors to buy
for all that into our ideas.
in conclusion/to conclude
to summarize, to sum up

3 Tackle **
Complete the text with a suitable linking word.

There has been a lot of talk about whether we should let 16-year-olds vote in the upcoming
election. 1.______________, I think we need to consider whether a 16-year-old is actually
interested in politics. 2.______________, we need to take into account the influence of the family
at that stage. The young person can 3.____________ be influenced by the family’s values
4.___________ by their political affiliation. 5.________________, it is very likely that the youngster
will vote similarly to their parents.

6.__________________________, a 16-year-old should be encouraged to start being interested in

the world around them and possibly take a stance when it comes to political matters. Being able to
vote at 16 would definitely bring the topic of politics closer to the youth’s everyday life.
7.___________________, we need to take into account the responsibility of voting. Is a 16-year-
old really ready and opinionated enough to be trusted with such a choice of who and what political
party to vote for?

4 Tackle ***
Complete the text with a suitable linking word from the box.

moreover importantly additionally for instance nevertheless thus in a nutshell

The gender-neutral pronoun “they” (1. __________: “This is Chris. They will be joining our class.”)
has gained currency in recent times. There are many good reasons why this usage should be
widely accepted and used. Most 2. ___________, some people do not identify with binary gender
norms. 3. _____________, the use of singular, gender-neutral “they” is considered by many as
more inclusive. 4. ____________, using the singular nouns “he or she” can be clumsy in writing,
whilst using “he” as a gender-neutral pronoun has lost wide acceptance.

5. __________, people who argue that the singular use of “they” is grammatically wrong are
ignoring the long history of its use. 6. _____________, its use can be traced back to Middle
English of the 14th century. Instead, prescriptive recommendations against its usage as a singular
pronoun gained ground around the middle of the 19th century. 7. ___________, it has remained in
common usage in the language.