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CLASS 8 · LEARNING KNOWLEDGE

Conjunctions for reason, result and contrast in English

How it works

Conjunctions connect sentences or parts of sentences and show relationships such as reason (‹reason›), result (‹result›) or contrast (‹contrast›). In English, reasons are often expressed with ‹because›, ‹since› or ‹as›, e.g. ‹She stayed at home because she was ill.› Results are expressed with ‹so›, ‹therefore› or ‹as a result›, e.g. ‹It was raining, so we stayed inside.› Contrasts are shown with ‹but›, ‹however›, ‹although› or ‹yet›, e.g. ‹He is tall but not very strong.› These conjunctions are not all freely interchangeable: ‹because› and ‹although› usually introduce subordinate clauses, while ‹but› connects two main clauses and ‹however› often functions as a sentence connector between main clauses or whole sentences.

Note
For a reason, use e.g. ‹because›, ‹since› or ‹as›. For a result, use e.g. ‹so›, ‹therefore› or ‹as a result›. For a contrast, use e.g. ‹but›, ‹however›, ‹although› or ‹yet›. The conjunction must not only fit the logical relationship, but also the sentence structure: ‹although› comes before a subordinate clause, ‹but› usually connects two main clauses, and ‹however› is often used with a comma.

An example

Choose the correct conjunction: ‹She was tired, ___ she went to bed early.›

The correct answer is ‹so›, because a result is being expressed: ‹She was tired, so she went to bed early.›

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50 Exercises

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Own explanation and own practice exercises by AmyMath. Subject reference framework: English. The topic assignment may vary by federal state.