Introduction
and, or, but, so, because
Conjunctions are used to connect two sentences into one long
sentence:
● I play tennis and I swim.
● You can go to the cinema, or you can visit your aunt.
● Ana loves oranges, but she hates pears.
● It was raining, so I took an umbrella.
● Peter is crying because he has failed his exams.
"and" is used to add items to a list:
● She bought apples and bananas.
"or" is used to talk about options:
● You can have the blue pen or the red pen.
"but" is used to show contrast:
● I speak French but I’ve never been to France.
"so" gives the result of something:
● Peter didn’t study, so he failed his exams.
"because" gives the reason for something:
● I got wet because I didn’t take an umbrella.
More examples
● On Saturdays, we usually visit the zoo and on Sundays,
we go to the park.
● I bought a skirt, some shoes and a jacket.
● We can have a holiday, or we can save our money.
● Can we have a picnic, or is the weather too bad?
● I’d like to go, but I don’t have any money.
● Tom ran, but he missed the bus.
● I was unhappy, so I ate some chocolate.
● I forgot the sun cream, so I got burnt.
● I got into university because I studied hard.
● I won’t buy a bicycle because I don't like cycling.
We usually place a comma before "or", "but" and "so".
With a long list we use commas and we put "and" before the
last item:
● He studies maths, science, French and drama.
We can put "because" at the beginning of a sentence:
● Because I don’t like cycling, I won't buy a bicycle.
Practice
Complete the sentences with the correct conjunction.
● I'm very good at sports, …….. I'm terrible at math.
● The movie was bad, ………. I left the cinema.
● At university, he studied physics ……. chemistry.
● Mick can't drive, so he can take the train, …….. he can
take the bus.
● Shelly didn't buy the car ………… she didn't have enough
money.
