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Let’s continue our survey of the alternatives for
establishing the various relationships between ideas, firmly keeping
in mind two things: (1) that coordinating conjunctions and
conjunctive adverbs function in much the same way in connecting
independent, grammatically co-equal clauses; and (2) that only
subordinating conjunctions can do the linking job when what we need
to connect to an independent clause is a subordinate clause.
Another important thing to
remember is that a conjunctive adverb provides a much more forceful
transition than its equivalent coordinating conjunction. Indeed, our
choice between the two will largely determine the tone or language
register of our writing or speech.
Having already taken up the
additive and comparative relationships, we will now proceed to our
various options for establishing the reason-result or
cause-and-effect relationship, the conditional relationship, the
example relationship, and the temporal or time relationship.
For the reason-result
relationship. The connective “for” is the sole coordinating
conjunction for establishing that an outcome described in the first
independent clause is due to an action or cause described in the
second independent clause: “They decided to work abroad, for jobs
were hard to find in their homeland.” On the other hand, the
connective “so” is the sole coordinating conjunction for
establishing that a cause described in the first independent clause
led to the action or outcome described in the second independent
clause: “The low-interest lending program had clearly failed to
achieve its purpose, so we decided to abolish it.”
The conjunctive adverbs offer us
a much wider choice for establishing the reason-result relationship:
“therefore,” “accordingly,” “consequently,” “hence,”
“as a result,” “for this reason,” “thus,” “thereby,”
and “by this means.” However, they provide much more pointed
transitions than the coordinating conjunction “so,” as we can
see in this example: “The low-interest lending program had clearly
failed to achieve its purpose; therefore, we decided to abolish
it.” It is therefore advisable to be very sparing in using them in
our day-to-day writing and speech; indeed, their overuse can make us
sound like lawyers obstinately arguing a case.
To establish the reason-result
relationship between an independent clause and a subordinate clause,
we have a choice of the subordinating conjunctions “since,”
“because,” “inasmuch as,” “as,” “as if,” “lest,”
“now that,” “once,” “that,” “so that,” “when,”
and “whenever,” depending on the nuance we need: “Since they
always disagreed on major issues, the partners decided to part
ways.” “Lest my point be misunderstood, allow me explain it more
fully.” “The woman called up the police once it became clear
that her jewels had been stolen.”
For the conditional relationship.
When the idea in a subordinate clause is a condition for the idea in
the independent clause to be true or acceptable, we have a choice of
the following subordinating conjunctions depending on the particular
nuance we need: “if,” “if only,” “as long as,” “in
order that,” “unless,” and “wherever.” Take the following
examples: “She would quit her job if she doesn’t get a raise.”
“Unless you produce the sales invoice, they wouldn’t replace
that defective product.”
For the example relationship. A
simple but powerful way to clarify an idea is to give a concrete
example to illustrate it. English has no conjunction for conveying
this relationship, but two conjunctive adverbs, “for example”
and “for instance,” do the job nicely: “Her memory must be
very bad indeed; for instance, she misplaced her car keys five times
last weekend.”
For the temporal or time
relationship. Establishing the temporal relationship is a unique
function of the subordinating conjunctions “after,”
“before,” “until,” “till,” and “while.” They serve
as subordinating time markers for the dependent clause in complex
sentences: “After he passed the bar examinations, the new lawyer
worked as a clerk in a prestigious law firm.” “She won’t be
able to leave Manila while her immigration case is pending.”
We’re done with our review of
the conjunctions and conjunctive adverbs.
(Next: The prepositions as
connectives)
j8carillo@yahoo.com
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