Coordinating Conjunction - Examples and Definition

Definition of Coordinating Conjunction
Coordinating conjunction is a type of conjunction that connects syntactically identical, and further constructed clauses, phrases, and phrases. In fact, it joins the elements which are similar in shape and importance. Coordinating conjunction is a not unusual type of conjunction inside the English language. There are seven such conjunctions, which may be remembered by means of the usage of mnemonic, or acronym, “FANBOYS,” which stands for “For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and Still.”

Sometimes, a coordinating conjunction may arise at the start of a new sentence, but normally it joins similarly built sentences. For instance, “I didn’t know, nor did any of my member of the family appear to know, that the medicinal leaf my grandma burned changed into marijuana.” (World’s Fair, via E.L. Doctorow).

Types of Coordinating Conjunction
Coordinating conjunction has 4 types, that are:

Cumulative Conjunction
Cumulative conjunctions simply add a new assertion to another current assertion. Examples of cumulative conjunction include: and, both, as well as, however also, not only, etc. For instance, “Alice is both stunning and clever.”

Adversative Conjunction
This sort of conjunction expresses comparison or opposition between clauses or statements. Examples of adversative conjunction include: yet, but, nevertheless, while, whereas, and nevertheless, etc. For instance, “Edward is very rich, nevertheless he isn't happy.”

Alternative Conjunction
An alternative conjunction offers two alternatives, or from time to time suggests an choice among them. It is additionally known as a “disjunctive conjunction.” Examples of opportunity conjunction include: either…or, or, neither…nor, otherwise, nor, and else, etc. For instance, “We will neither observe their orders, nor quit.”

Illative Conjunction
An illative conjunction states an inference. Examples of illative conjunction include: so, for, etc. For instance, “She works very hard so she can win.”

Examples of Coordinating Conjunction in Literature
Example #1: The Big Sea (by Langston Hughes)
“They have been now not cordial to Negro patronage, except you have been a celeb like Bojangles. So Harlem Negroes did no longer just like the Cotton Club and in no way liked its Jim Crow policy in the very heart of their darkish community…”

This passage has used an illative conjunction “so,” which derives inference from the preceding sentence, giving a cause-effect relationship to those sentences.

Example #2: Pride and Prejudice (with the aid of Jane Austen)
“Its banks had been neither formal, nor falsely adorned. Elizabeth turned into delighted. She had never seen a place wherein nature had done more, or where herbal beauty have been so little counteracted by means of an awkward taste. They were all of them heat in her admiration; and at that moment she felt that to be mistress of Pemberley might be something!”

Austen has flawlessly used the alternative coordinating conjunction, “neither…nor” to describe the bank. She additionally uses “or” to contrast her emotions about the beauty of the place.

Example #3: Preface to Milton (by using William Blake)
“And did those feet in historic time
Walk upon England’s mountains green?
And became the holy Lamb of God,
On England’s high-quality pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?”

Blake has used the cumulative coordinating conjunction “and” at the start of sentence on this verse. This conjunction offers continuation of thought through becoming a member of sentences with “and.”

Example #4: Charlotte’s Web (through E.B. White)
“Do you recognize how there will be any writing in a spider’s internet?”

“Oh, no,” stated Dr. Dorian. “I don’t recognize it… When the phrases appeared, everyone stated they were a miracle. But nobody talked about that the internet itself is a miracle.”

In this excerpt, E. B. White has used the adversative conjunction, “but.” Here, Dorian refers to phrases, then draws the reader’s mind to the net, calling it a “miracle,” which is contrary to the readers’ expectations.

Example #5: You Take Manhattan (by way of Joseph Epstein)
“In no other town does life appear this type of perpetual balancing of debits and credits, of evils and virtues, because it does in New York. No other town appears so charming but so crude, so civilized but so uncouth.”

This passage makes use of the adversative conjunction, “but,” to give a contrast among the two qualities, “captivating,” and “crude,” as nicely as “civilized,” and “uncouth.”

Function
The characteristic of coordinating conjunction is to connect phrases, clauses, or sentences of same syntactic importance, to give right which means to sentences. In easy phrases, it acts as a coordinator. When writers use coordinating conjunctions liberally, it is able to cause nonsensical or rambling sentences, and sooner or later to run-on sentences. Used appropriately, however, the coordinating conjunction can enhance the nice of the writing, giving it a herbal flow, cohesion, and continuation of even though or ideas.