12 Conjunctions and Interjections

We have studied six of the eight parts of speech.  The two remaining are the easiest.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that connect. (Think what the word “junction” means: a place where things cross or connect.) Conjunctions connect two or more people, things, places, or ideas. They also can connect two or more parts of a sentence.

The most common conjunctions are “for,” “and,” “nor,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” and “so” (called “fanboys,” after the first letter of each word).  We see them often.  For example:

The small bird flew swiftly towards the tree, but it nearly collided with a crow.  It swerved at the last minute and landed safely.  Neither the crow nor the small bird was hurt, yet both seemed upset.

Other conjunctions, such as “because,” “since,” “after,” “as,” “when,” “while,” and “although,” can begin dependent clauses and connect them to the main part of the sentence. (More about clauses in Ch. 4.)

For example:

The library and its landscaping impress people when they first visit our campus. (“and” joins “library” with “landscaping.” Then “when” joins the main part of the sentence with the dependent clause at the end.)

Interjections

Interjections convey a greeting or show surprise or other emotions.

Interjections are common in spoken English but rare in written English because they are considered very casual. Interjections are like an exclamation point or an emoticon (which also should be avoided in college and business writing). Notice that interjections are usually followed by an exclamation point!

Here is a list of common interjections, but there are hundreds more: