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English subordinators (also known as subordinating conjunctions or complementizers) are words that mostly mark clauses as subordinate. The subordinators form a closed lexical category in English and include whether ; and, in some of their uses, if , that , for , arguably to , and marginally how .
The definition may be extended to idiomatic phrases that behave as a unit and perform the same function, e.g. "as well as", "provided that". A simple literary example of a conjunction is "the truth of nature, and the power of giving interest" (Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Biographia Literaria). [3]
A conjunctive adverb, adverbial conjunction, or subordinating adverb is an adverb that connects two clauses by converting the clause it introduces into an adverbial modifier of the verb in the main clause. For example, in "I told him; thus, he knows" and "I told him. Thus, he knows", thus is a conjunctive adverb. [1]
In addition to a subject and a verb, dependent clauses contain a subordinating conjunction or similar word. There are a large number of subordinating conjunctions in English. Some of these give the clause an adverbial function, specifying time, place, or manner. Such clauses are called adverbial clauses.
In the examples below, the adverbial clause is italicized and the subordinating conjunction is bolded: Mary, the aspiring actress, became upset as soon as she saw the casting list. (subject: she; predicate: saw the casting list; the clause modifies the verb became) Peter, the drama teacher, met with Mary after she calmed down.
Some words can be used both as adpositions and as subordinating conjunctions: (preposition) before/after/since the end of the summer (conjunction) before/after/since the summer ended (preposition) It looks like another rainy day (conjunction) It looks like it's going to rain again today
The following are single-word prepositions that take clauses as complements. Prepositions marked with an asterisk in this section can only take non-finite clauses as complements. Note that dictionaries and grammars informed by concepts from traditional grammar may categorize these conjunctive prepositions as subordinating conjunctions.
Conjuncts can be words, phrases, clauses, or full sentences. [Gretchen and her daughter] bought [motor oil, spark plugs, and dynamite]. Take two of these and call me in the morning. A verb form, for example the conjunct verb endings of Old Irish or the conjunct mood (sometimes called the subjunctive mood) of Algonquian languages.