Imagine a situation where you are travelling to a destination, and on the way, you get stuck on the banks of a river. To complete the journey with pleasure, you have to cross the river, right? And for that, a connective is required. If a proper bridge is placed over the river, then you can effortlessly complete the journey. So here, the bridge is the connective that helps for completing the journey. Similar is the case with any language. For the smooth journey of conversation, certain connectives are required. And these connectives are called conjunctions. In this article, we will help our little ones to take a closer look into conjunctions. The information provided below will help to develop a basic idea about the definition, different types of conjunctions and how to effectively place them in sentences. Developing a basic idea will help to boost the confidence of children to express themselves effectively before others.
Conjunctions can be defined as words that are used to connect words, groups of words or sentences. In simpler terms, they can also be called joining words or connectives. To bring continuity to the language, the application of conjunctions in sentences is very important. They are used and are diverse in every language. Without the proper usage of conjunctions, it will be demanding to express our ideas in short sentences.
For example, let us take a look at two sentences with and without conjunctions. Let the first sentence be, ‘we stopped playing,’ and the second sentence be, ‘we stopped playing because of rain.’ From the sentence, it is very clear that with the use of the term ‘because’, which is a conjunction, the sentence has become longer and more complex. It has also helped us to express our intent accurately. Proper usage of connectors will help develop our writing and reading flow and make the process more interesting to us. Since conjunctions are considered an imperative part of language, it is one of the main topics included in kids’ early education. Parents can ask their children to rely on conjunction worksheets and related exercises to make learning conjunctions more entertaining. Since there are numerous offline and online worksheets available, kids can grasp the idea effortlessly.
Types of Conjunctions
Have you ever wondered about the reasons why learning conjunctions are incorporated into kids’ academic curricula? Conjunctions are very important for constructing and structuring sentences. Since they are very functional, it is very crucial to teach our children about them. From the information provided above, children might have developed a basic idea about its definition. Now let’s assist them in learning the different types of conjunctions.
There are mainly three types of conjunctions. They are
- Correlative conjunctions: When two pairs of conjunctions work together to form a complex sentence, then it is called a correlative conjunction. Some commonly used correlative conjunctions are either/or, both/and, not only/but also, and whether/or.
- Coordinating conjunctions: Coordinating conjunctions are conjunctions that are used to connect two statements of equal importance. For, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so are some of the common coordinating conjunctions. They never appear at the start or end of a sentence.
- Subordinating conjunctions: The function of subordinating conjunctions is to connect the main and subordinate clauses together. Main clauses are complete sentences which can stand alone. In contrast, subordinate clauses are incomplete and do not make sense on their own. So in order to establish a connection between these clauses and to make the sentence grammatically correct, subordinating conjunctions are used. If, since, as, when, although, while, after, before, until, and because are some of the commonly used subordinating conjunctions in the English language.
Once they master the information provided above, they can effortlessly place connectives in their language and engage in active conversations with others. To analyse their comprehension, ask them to solve conjunction worksheets for kids. The more they practise, the more they get acquainted with conjunctions. Apart from improving their communication and language skills, developing a habit of practising exercises on a regular basis will help to improve their discipline and will encourage them to learn more. For more language-building exercises and worksheets, visit BYJU’S website.
