Konjunctions

Konjunctions are words or particles used to connect words, phrases, or clauses within sentences. They form the core of what in English is called conjunctions and are divided into several functional classes: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative. In logic and computer science, the term also describes the conjunction operator, which denotes the logical "and" relation between propositions or conditions.

Coordinating conjunctions link elements of equal syntactic status, as in "apples and oranges" or "he slept, but he woke early." Common examples in English are and, but, or, nor, for, yet, and so. Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses that cannot stand alone, such as "because," "although," "since," "when," "if," "unless." Correlative conjunctions appear in paired constructions such as "either ... or," "neither ... nor," "both ... and," or "not only ... but also," requiring parallel structure.

Grammar and punctuation rules govern use. A comma often precedes a coordinating conjunction when it joins two independent clauses, forming a compound sentence. When the dependent clause comes first, a comma often follows it. Correlative conjunctions require parallelism in the elements they connected. In other languages, konjunctions appear with different markers or word orders; some use postposed particles or distinct clausal boundaries.

In logic, conjunction is a binary operator: A ∧ B is true exactly when both A and B are true. In computing and information retrieval, conjunctions combine search terms or conditions. The study of konjunctions spans grammar, semantics, and discourse, and they are essential for building coherent, multi-clause statements.