40. Conjunctions versus Connectors

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Conjunctions and connectors express similar meanings but follow different rules of grammar and punctuation

DEFINING FEATURES OF CONJUNCTIONS AND CONNECTORS

Conjunctions and connectors both feature in other parts of this blog, but their importance in professional writing and the confusions they cause make it useful to compare them more directly.

One cause of confusion is surely that their names are both suggestive of the same thing – a “linking” or “joining” role – without giving a clue to any difference. Another is probably the existence of alternative names, such as “logical connectors” (for connectors) and “connectives” or “linkers” (for conjunctions and connectors together).

It does not help either that even the idea of “linking” is ambiguous: various other grammatical categories can be thought of as linking devices too. Relative pronouns “link” ordinary statements together in the same sentence (see 37. Subordination). Prepositions may “link” a noun idea onto the rest of a sentence. Verbs often “link” their subject with either an object or a complement.

What distinguishes conjunctions and connectors from other linking expressions is that they show a meaning link between two verb-containing statements. What separates conjunctions and connectors from each other is the grammatical status of the two linked statements: conjunction ones are together in the same sentence, connector ones are separate:

(a) CONJUNCTION: Mount Kilimanjaro is on the Equator, but it has a covering of snow.

(b) CONNECTOR : Mount Kilimanjaro is on the Equator. Nevertheless, it has a covering of snow

In (a), the conjunction but is “linking” in two different ways. Firstly, it physically links the two verbs is and has into the same sentence – separate verbs must normally be in separate sentences (see 30. When to Write a Full Stop). Secondly but makes a mental link, suggesting that what follows is surprising after the statement before. Linguists would call physical linking “syntactic” and the mental kind “semantic”.

In sentence (b), on the other hand, the connector nevertheless does only one kind of linking: mental / semantic (in this case the same mental link that but shows). There is no physical linking: the connector is in a new sentence. It could not have just a comma before (see 250. Synonym Pairs with Contrasting Grammar, #6). However, it could be left out without causing a grammar error. 

The lack of physical linking by connectors is hardly surprising: they are very similar to – or even a subtype of – adverbs, most of which are not linking in any way at all (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs). The fact that connectors show only a meaning link is probably the reason why some people call them “logical” connectors.

A slightly confusing complication is that sometimes a conjunction and connector are used together. For example, in (b) above it would be possible to say but nevertheless, with a comma instead of a full stop before. However, the essential difference between conjunctions and connectors remains the same: the conjunction (but) is doing the physical linking (making the comma possible), while the connector is adding its mental meaning to that of the conjunction – making it stronger. In other words, combinations like but nevertheless are emphatic conjunctions. They can only be made with a few conjunction-connector pairs: for other examples, see 125. Stress and Emphasis.

Knowing these points is, of course, not enough to ensure that connectors and conjunctions are used correctly; one must also know which words (or phrases) make conjunctions and which make connectors. Unfortunately, there is no obvious means of achieving this: you just have to remember which expressions are which. The meaning is no guide because, as shown above, both types of expression can have the same meaning.

In this blog, there are various posts that extensively illustrate connectors, including 20. Problem Connectors,  112. Synonyms of Connectors, and 259. Multi-Word Connectors. There is also something in 138. Grammar Command Test 1 and 214. Grammar Command Test 2.

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OTHER DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONJUNCTIONS AND CONNECTORS

The main other differences concern punctuation and sentence positions. They are:

(i) A conjunction does not usually have a following comma but a connector does (see 50. Right & Wrong Comma Places).

(ii) A conjunction usually comes before the subject of its verb, but a connector quite often comes later. In sentence (b), nevertheless can be placed after any of the other main words in its sentence.

(iii) Most conjunctions may go either before or between the two verbs that they join (see 25. Conjunction Positioning and 64. Double Conjunctions), but connectors must go between them. In sentence (a) above, but is actually one of the exceptional conjunctions that cannot go before the two verbs, just like a connector. The conjunction although is more typical:

(c) Although chickens have wings, they cannot fly.

(d) Chickens cannot fly although they have wings.

For more about conjunctions like but (called “coordinating”) and conjunctions like although (called “subordinating”), see 174. Eight Things to Know about Conjunctions, #3.

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MEANINGS OF CONJUNCTIONS AND CONNECTORS

In the above examples, the mental link, or meaning, of the conjunctions and the connector was the same: the surprising nature of the statement made with the second verb. This meaning is one of very many that different conjunctions and connectors express. Some are described elsewhere in this blog (see the posts listed above at the end of the first section), and a comprehensive list can be found in the book Cambridge Grammar of English. Further examples are as follows:

(e) CONJUNCTION: After evening falls, mosquitoes become active.

(f) CONNECTOR     : Evening falls. Then/Afterwards mosquitoes become active.

The mental link here is that the event expressed by the second verb has a later time than the event expressed by the first verb (see 227. Time Adverbs).

(g) CONJUNCTION: If it rains, the visit will be cancelled.

If it rains …

(h) CONNECTOR    : It might rain. In that case the visit will be cancelled.

In each of these, the first verb helps to show a hypothetical future event and the second one indicates a consequence of that (see 118. Problems with Conditional “if”).

Two points can be made about the variety of meanings that are possible with conjunctions and connectors. Firstly, most conjunctions seem to have many connectors of similar meaning. Here are some more examples:
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Lists of Connectors Corresponding to Individual Conjunctions

AND

additionally, also, as well (not first word), besides this, furthermore, in addition, moreover, too (not first word); afterwards, next, subsequently, then, thereafter; as a result. For more on some of these, see 122. Signpost Words in Multi-Sentence Lists,  167. Ways of Arguing 1 and 210. Process Descriptions.

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BUT

all the same, even so, however, nevertheless, nonetheless, still, yet (for a special use of these, see 51. Making Concessions with “May”);  by contrast, in contrast, on the other hand (see 216. Indicating Differences);  on the contrary (see 20. Problem Connectors, #1).

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SO, SO THAT (also BECAUSE/SINCE at the start)

as a result, consequently, for this reason, hence, that is why, therefore, thus (see 32. Expressing Consequences and 20. Problem Connectors, #4/5).

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(JUST) AS

similarly, likewise, in a similar way, in the same way (see the very end of 149. Saying How Things are Similar).

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OR

alternatively, if not, otherwise, then again (see 266. Indicating Alternatives); in other words, that is to say (see 286. Repeating in Different Words, #6).

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BECAUSE/SINCE (between the linked verbs)

this is because, the reason is that

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BEFORE (before the linked verbs)

beforehand, before this, first (see 171. Aspects of the Past Perfect Tense and 227. Time Adverbs)

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BEFORE (between the linked verbs)

afterwards, next, subsequently, then, thereafter

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WHILE

all the while, at this time, at the same time, at that moment, concurrently, during this time, in the process, meanwhile, simultaneously (see 225. Simultaneous Occurrence).

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The reason why there are many connectors for each conjunction is probably that conjunctions have many different meanings (like most small words – see 3. Multi-Use Words), while connectors tend to have just one. For example, but can express either “contrast” or “concession” (see 20. Problem Connectors, #3); and can express not only addition but also result (see 32. Expressing Consequences); and if can show different types of condition (see 179. Deeper Meanings of “if”).

The second point to be made about the meaning variety of conjunctions and connectors is that overall connectors express more meanings than conjunctions. This is indicated by the existence of connectors with no corresponding conjunction at all, such as for example, for instance, in other words, in particular, in fact, indeed, instead, in short, at least and at last.

The first three of these also have a preposition-like use (with a comma before them rather than after), but no conjunction one (see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #4). For advice on using at last, see 20. Problem Connectors, #7. Note also that, despite the variety of connectors, English seems to lack one for one particular inter-sentence meaning: see 117. Restating Generalizations More Precisely.

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CHOOSING BETWEEN A CONJUNCTION AND A CONNECTOR

There seem to be a number of possible reasons for choosing between a conjunction and a connector. Firstly, conjunctions but not connectors can suggest that the information after them is not the writer’s central point. In sentence (e) above, for example, evening falls after the starting conjunction after is suggested to be a less central message than mosquitoes become active (see 37. Subordination). In (f), on the other hand, the connector afterwards highlights both messages equally. For more on message importance, see 156. Mentioning What the Reader Knows Already.

A second possible reason for choosing between a conjunction and a connector could be the degree of separateness that we might wish to give to the two joined verbs. Putting them into the same sentence with a conjunction suggests that they are somehow part of the same idea, while putting them into two different sentences suggests that they are two different points (this kind of choice is widespread in writing – see 59. Paragraph Length for an illustration of how the same applies in paragraph design). Compare these examples:

(i) Cars are dangerous and they pollute.

(j) Cars are dangerous. Moreover, they pollute.

Sentence (i) seems to be saying one thing by means of two points, that cars are bad; while (j) appears to be emphasising that there are two separate disadvantages.

A third possible reason for choosing to say something in a new sentence by means of a connector could be the fact that connectors tend to have a more precise meaning than conjunctions. Being precise is especially important in academic and professional writing, and that might explain why connectors are especially common in those fields. Note, though, that connectors are not the only means of paraphrasing a conjunction: verbs can be used too (see 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns, #1) and so can prepositions (see 205. Paraphrasable Prepositions).

Fourthly, sentence length may explain a preference for a conjunction or connector. Conjunctions can prevent there being too many short sentences in a text (see 210. Process Descriptions, #3). Conversely, connectors can help break up over-long sentences into shorter ones.

39. “Decide” or “Make a Decision”?

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Making a Decision

Replacing a single verb with a longer paraphrase is a useful way to avoid unwanted words or add wanted ones

WHY USE 3 WORDS INSTEAD OF 1?

I used to wonder about the appropriacy in English of sentences like this:

(a) The committee made a decision to invest.

Why, I asked, should anyone choose to say made a decision when it is so much more efficient to say decided? Why, more generally, has English developed the option of a longer way to say what verbs say (cf. reached a conclusion, gave a definition and had a meeting)?

There must be a reason, my Linguistics training tells me, because there always is. After much thought, I still feel that the above sentence is better with the single word decided, but I have identified at least some occasions when the longer alternative might be useful, and I wish to share these insights here.

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EXPRESSIONS LIKE “MAKE A DECISION”

As a preliminary to considering the value of expressions like make a decision, it may help to analyse their linguistic nature. They comprise a verb (in this case make) followed by a noun (a decision), the two together being very similar in meaning to a single verb spelt like the noun (decide). Not all single verbs can be reworded in this way, but many can, especially speech and thought ones (see 287. Speech and Thought Nouns).

The spelling of the noun in expressions like make a decision usually follows one of the verb-modifying methods listed in this blog in 249. Action Noun Endings. The verb alongside this noun is fairly fixed, but different with different nouns. With decision, it has to be MAKE, with conclusion REACH and with meeting HAVE. MAKE is one of the most common (see 141. Ways of Using MAKE). For more about HAVE, see 116. Rarer Uses of HAVE. For a fairly extensive list of possibilities, see 173. “Do Research” or “Make Research”?.

The restriction on verb choice means that this kind of verb-noun combination is an example of “collocation”, or word partnership (see 273. Verb-Object Collocations).

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USING EXPRESSIONS LIKE “MAKE A DECISION” TO AVOID UNWANTED WORDS

The idea of “unwanted words” is often found in discussions of passive verbs in English. Passives without by are commonly said to facilitate the non-mention of an unwanted subject of their corresponding active form (many suggest they are the only way to achieve this, but I believe differently: see 27. How to Avoid Passive Verbs). Various reasons can be given for words being unwanted, for example that they are too informal (see 46. How to Avoid “I”, “We” and “You”), obvious (e.g. the police arrested the culprit), unknown (e.g. someone broke the window), or a secret.

However, unwanted words are not always the subject of a verb. They can have various other roles in a sentence, especially that of object. Expressions like make a decision are a major means of avoiding unwanted objects and some other types of unwanted wording too (even sometimes the subject of a verb).

1. Avoiding Unwanted Objects

Perhaps the reason why unwanted objects are rarely mentioned is that objects are much less common than subjects: all verbs need a subject in ordinary statements; not all need an object (see 8. Object-Dropping Errors). Yet objects can be just as unwanted as subjects:

(a) The committee decided the matter after a 3-hour meeting.

(b) The interviewees informed me about the procedures they followed.

In (a), the object the matter is obvious, since its meaning can be understood from the verb alone (decisions are very typically about “matters”). Its presence is due purely to the need of decided here to have an object (DECIDE does sometimes have a no object, but to express a slightly different meaning: see 309. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 5, #5). The situation is similar in (b), where there is also the problem that me is too informal for serious writing.

The beauty of expressions like make a decision is that they are syntactically identical to the combination of VERB + (unwanted) OBJECT, so that they can directly replace instances of it without disturbing the rest of the sentence: we just replace one VERB + OBJECT with another. The above two problem sentences can thus be improved like this:

(c) The committee made a decision after a 3-hour meeting.

(d) The interviewees gave information about the procedures they followed.

Below are some more examples of this way to avoid unwanted objects (underlined). I would suggest that the solutions (in capitals on the right) are covered up to begin with, and an attempt made to predict them. Note the new verb employed each time.

surprise everyone = CAUSE SURPRISE
regret something = FEEL REGRET
risk your safety = TAKE A RISK
introduce the topic = GIVE AN INTRODUCTION
discuss the question = HAVE A DISCUSSION
acquire something = MAKE AN ACQUISITION
heed it = TAKE HEED
permit me = GIVE PERMISSION
treats the (medical) condition = PROVIDES TREATMENT

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2. Avoiding Unwanted Subjects

Although the passive voice is commonly used for avoiding an unwanted subject, it is surprisingly often not possible (see 46. How to Avoid “I”, “We” and “You”). Reasons for this include the relevant verb being intransitive (simply not possible in the passive voice: see 113. Verbs That Cannot Be Passive), or being already passive, or having a very long object that would sound clumsy if moved to the start of a sentence. Here are some examples of unwanted subjects with an intransitive verb:

(e) Everyone WORKED tirelessly.

(f) We did not SEEM to progress.

The next two examples show how the unwanted subjects of these sentences can be avoided by changing all or part of the verb into a related noun. The new verbs both need to be passive:

(g) The work WAS CARRIED OUT tirelessly.

(h) Progress did not seem to BE MADE.

An example of an unwanted subject with a passive verb is:

(i) People WERE INSTRUCTED to return home.

To avoid saying people, just change instructed into an instruction, like this:

(j) An instruction WAS GIVEN to return home.

For more examples of this strategy, see 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns, #3. There is also an exercise at the end of this post that provides practice in it.

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3. Avoiding Part of a Report

It very often happens that a full report of something said by someone is ruled out because part of it is inappropriate in one of the ways listed above. In many cases, the only way to omit the unwanted words is by introducing them with a speech noun instead of verb.

Suppose, for example, that someone said “We should increase the budget”, and it was desired to report that the budget had been mentioned without saying anything about increasing it. It would be difficult to do this with the verb X proposed… but with X made a proposal the report could be limited to …about the budget. This is because nouns like proposal more easily report with a preposition (about) than verbs like proposed do (see 287. Speech and Thought Nouns, #2).

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USING EXPRESSIONS LIKE “make a decision” TO FACILITATE WORD ADDITIONS

Sometimes an expanded verb like make a decision is the only means of adding an extra idea to a sentence. Consider this:

(k) It is planned to improve the building.

If you wanted to add the idea of “essential” to that of “improve”, the easiest way to do so would be by changing to improve into its related noun an improvement so that the adjective essential could describe it (…to make an essential improvement to the building). Note that in some other sentences, adding an idea like this is possible just by adding an adverb, without changing the verb. Consider this:

(l) The government decided to raise taxes.

The idea of “quick” could be added to that of “decide” here just by including the adverb quickly, so that the expanded verb would be unnecessary. The reason why this cannot be done in (k) is that essentially would have a different meaning –  “basically” rather than “very importantly”. Thus, changing the verb improve into the noun improvement and describing it with the adjective essential is the only way of adding the meaning of “very important” to (k). Another adjective like essential is large, while another like quick is visible.

A different kind of word addition is facilitated in the following:

(m) Ali (2017, p. 5) makes the criticism that “most social benefits promote a culture of dependency”.

If the simple verb criticises were used here instead of makes the criticism, the following that would be ungrammatical (see 279. Grammatical Variability of Citation Verbs, #4). The only way to fit it in would be by modifying the quotation (see 79. Fitting Quotations into a Text). The noun criticism, on the other hand, does allow a following that.
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PRACTICE EXERCISE (AVOIDING UNWANTED WORDS)

How could each of the following be rewritten so that the underlined words are not mentioned? Answers are given below.

1. You responded immediately.
2. The researcher was assisted by the hospital.
3. The aeroplane takes off at 21.30.
4. I concluded that the task was impossible.
5. When we are ordered to report early, we must hasten.
6. The committee met in the morning.
7. We should be addressed in Room B.
8. Mary’s book will be published next month.
9. Someone has died.
10. You are required to possess a passport.

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Answers (further alternatives may be possible)

1. An immediate response was made/given (A response was given/made immediately).
2. Assistance was given/provided by the hospital (…was received from…).
3. Take-off is/takes place at 21.30.
4. The conclusion was/was reached that the task was impossible.
5. When an order is given to report early, haste is needed/required.
6. The meeting was/took place in the morning.
7. The address should be/take place in Room B.
8. Publication will be/take place next month.
9. A death has occurred/taken place.
10. There is a requirement (a requirement exists) to possess a passport (Possession of a passport is required).