English: Understanding Coordinate and Subordinating Conjunctions

This text explains the usage of coordinate and subordinating conjunctions in English with examples. It also covers the difference between independent and dependent clauses, and the need for commas in certain cases. The text also includes examples of compound and complex sentences, and the usage of conjunctive verbs and adverbs. The text concludes with a personal anecdote about cleaning out a hoarder's house.

Running head: ENGLISH
English
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH
Answer 1: Coordinate conjunctions are used to join two or more than two sentences. They are
used to emphasize a pair of main clauses. Coordinate conjunctions are used to connect words,
phrases and clauses.
Answer 2: The coordinate conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or , yet, so.
Answer 3: We put a comma in sentence A and not in sentence B, because in sentence A “Martha
installed a firewall, and Sylvia changed the passwords” two actions are being performed by two
different persons, unlike in sentence B, where Martha installs a firewall and changes the
password as well.
Answer 4: No, one should not start a sentence with a coordinate conjunction in formal writing.
Answer 5:
1. Peter had to get the transmission and the brake fixed.
2. Zach thought he passed his driver’s test but he had to book another one.
3. Kate plays the piano and the guitar.
4. My uncle was killed in a motorcycle accident so my mother won’t allow me to get a
motorcycle.
5. Erin’s brother and brother-in-law are engineers.
Answer 6: Subordinating conjunctions are used when there is a need to join dependent clauses to
independent clauses. Subordinate conjunctions may also introduce adverb clauses.
Answer7: After the basement flooded, we spent all day cleaning up.
I don’t want to go to the movies because I abhor the smell of popcorn.
I paid Martha, whose garden design work is top-notch
As soon as the alarm goes off, I hit the snooze button.

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When the doorbell rang, my dog Timmy barked loudly.
Answer 8: An independent clause is a group of words that has a verb and a subject and is a
complete thought. For example, “He ran.” A dependent clause is a group of words that also has a
subject and a verb but it is not a complete thought in itself. Since it does not make any sense on
its own, it has to be attached to an independent clause to form a sentence.
Answer 9: The comma is required in sentence A, because it has two parts to it and hence it is
required in order to make the sentence even clearer.
The comma is not required in sentence B because of the presence of the word ‘if’
The comma is not required in sentence C, because even without the comma, the sentence makes
perfect sense.
The comma is not required after the word ‘although’ in sentence D but it is required after the
word ‘complaints’
Answer 10: A compound sentence is a sentence that has more than one subject or predicate. It is
a sentence that has two or more than two independent clauses and is joined by semicolon,
comma or conjunction. For example, She wanted a sandwich; He wanted a hamburger.
Answer 11: A complex sentence has one independent clause and one or more than one dependent
clause. For example, John wrote an excellent essay.
Answer 12:
1. Tim Horton had a hand in starting the business that bears his name wheras Laura Secord had
nothing to do with the candy-making business.
2. The candy store was named after Laura Secord as the founder wanted a Canadian heroine as a
trademark.

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3. Although the Canadian flag is such a recognized symbol, today it did not have an easy road to
design and official acceptance in 1965.
4. While the first explorers came to Canada seeking a route to the Orient, they came back for the
valuable fish and furs.
5. If British Columbia agreed to join Canada, a railroad would be built to connect it with the
eastern provinces.
Answer 13. Conjunctive verbs connects two independent clauses or complete sentences.
The five examples of conjunctive verbs are accordingly, also, comparatively, conversely,
besides.
Answer 14: A conjunctive adverb contains two complete ideas. One needs a semicolon to
connect the two clauses. Subordinating conjunctions join two clauses together but in doing so, it
makes one clause dependent on the other. For example, ‘Because it is raining we have an
umbrella.” Coordinating conjunctions connect two words or groups of words that has similar
values. For example, Georgina and Anne stayed up all night practicing their pianos.
Answer 15:
1. The students worked hard, and they passed the test.
2. The students worked hard; they passed the test.
3. The students worked hard and they passed the test
4. Because the students worked hard, they passed the test.
5. The students worked hard and so they passed the test.
Answer 16: Cleaning out my mother’s cluttered musty old house after she died, was a
monumental task. Like many old people who had lived through unspeakable war and famine, she
was an incurable hoarder. She kept old newspapers, plastic bags and cardboard boxes. She did

4ENGLISH
not trash out of date calendars, she just tacked up a new one in a different spot on the wall. We
found new clothes that had been saved for a special occasion and never used. Her husband’s
clothes still hung in the closet even though he had passed away a dozen years earlier. In the cold
cellar were jars of pickled food that must have been 20 years old. Two full-size freezers were
crammed with food. Some of the packages were many years old; she felt safe with all her
possessions and never wanted to let anything go.