English coordinators (also known as coordinating conjunctions) are conjunctions that connect

word A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...

s, phrases, or

clause In language, a clause is a constituent that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with ...

s with equal

syntactic In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure (constituency), ...

importance. The primary coordinators in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

are ''and'', ''but'', ''or'', and ''nor''.

Syntactically In linguistics, syntax () is the study of how words and morphemes combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences. Central concerns of syntax include word order, grammatical relations, hierarchical sentence structure ( constituency) ...

, they appear between the elements they connect, and

semantically Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comput ...

, they express additive, contrastive, or alternative relationships between those elements.

Terminology and membership

Matthews defines ''coordinator'' as "a word, etc. which links syntactic units standing in a relation of

coordination Coordination may refer to: * Coordination (linguistics), a compound grammatical construction * Coordination complex, consisting of a central atom or ion and a surrounding array of bound molecules or ions * Coordination number or ligancy of a centr ...

." Most dictionaries and many

traditional grammar Traditional grammar (also known as classical grammar) is a framework for the description of the structure of a language. The roots of traditional grammar are in the work of classical Greek and Latin philologists. The formal study of grammar based ...

books use the term ''coordinating conjunction'' for this group of words.

Central coordinators

The primary coordinators include ''and'', ''but'', ''or'', and ''nor''.

''And''

''And'' is a coordinator used to connect elements that have an additive relationship, such as ''I bought apples and oranges'' or ''He worked hard and achieved success''.

''But''

''But'' is a coordinator used to connect elements that have a contrastive relationship, such as ''She is young but wise'' or ''He tried his best but failed''.

''Or''

''Or'' is a coordinator used to connect elements that represent alternatives or choices, such as ''You can have tea or coffee'' or ''We can go to the beach or stay at home''.

''Nor''

''Nor'' is a coordinator used to connect elements that express negative alternatives, such as ''I don't like apples, nor do I like oranges''. It is often used in combination with ''neither'', as in ''Neither John nor Jane is attending the party''.

Marginal coordinators

Marginal coordinators are coordinators that do not share all the properties of the central coordinators. These include ''so'', ''yet'', ''as well as'', ''slash'', and ''plus''.

''So''

''So'' is a coordinator used to connect elements providing reasons, such as ''She was tired, so she went to bed early''. Unlike the core coordinators, ''so'' connects clauses, but not individual words. For example, ''she was full so happy'' is questionable.

''Yet''

''Yet'' is a coordinator used to connect elements that have a contrastive relationship, often expressing unexpected results or situations, such as ''He is a millionaire, yet he lives in a small house''.

''As well as''

''As well as'' is a marginal coordinator used to connect elements with an additive relationship, similar to ''and''. For example, ''She speaks English as well as French''.

''Slash''

''Slash'' (represented by the symbol '/') is an informal coordinator used in writing to connect alternatives, similar to ''or''. It is more common in informal contexts and digital communication, for example, ''Please bring your own pen/pencil''.

''Plus''

''Plus'' is a marginal coordinator used to connect elements with an additive relationship, similar to ''and''. It is often used in the context of numbers or quantities, but can also be used more generally. For example, here ''plus'' joins two clauses: ''There were ten people at the party, plus a few latecomers''.

Coordinate structures and the Coordinate Structure Constraint

Coordinate structures are created when two or more elements are connected by a coordinator. These structures can involve words, phrases, or clauses. For example, "apples and oranges" is a coordinate structure consisting of two noun phrases, while "She likes apples and he likes oranges" is a coordinate structure consisting of two clauses.

Non-headedness

Unlike most

phrases In syntax and grammar, a phrase is a group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit. For instance, the English expression "the very happy squirrel" is a noun phrase which contains the adjective phrase "very happy". Phrases can consi ...

, coordinations are not headed. An

adjective In linguistics, an adjective (list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated ) is a word that generally grammatical modifier, modifies a noun or noun phrase or describes its referent. Its semantic role is to change information given by the noun. Tra ...

phrase, for instance, has a head adjective along with any possible dependents. In the adjective phrase ''very happy about it'', for instance, ''happy'' is the head, ''very'' is a modifier and ''about it'' is a complement. The modifier and the complement depend on the head. In a coordination, though, the coordinated elements are equal in status, and so neither is the head. Similarly, the coordinator is only a subordinate element, not the head of the coordination.

Coordinate structure constraint

A well-known constraint on coordinate structures is the Coordinate Structure Constraint, which states that extraction from one conjunct of a coordinate structure is not allowed. This constraint can be seen in the ungrammaticality of sentences like *''What did John buy apples and?'' (where the asterisk indicates ungrammaticality) as opposed to the grammatical sentence ''What did John buy?''

Coordinators vs other categories

Coordinators vs subordinators

Coordinators differ from subordinators in that they connect elements of equal syntactic importance, while subordinators mark clauses as subordinate. Coordinators appear between the elements they connect, whereas subordinators typically appear immediately before the subordinate element, though not necessarily after the . Furthermore, coordinators express relationships between the connected elements, while subordinators are often semantically empty or functional. For example, in the sentence "She likes apples and oranges", the coordinator ''and'' connects two elements (apples and oranges) of equal importance. In contrast, in the sentence "She knew that he was lying", the subordinator ''that'' marks the clause "he was lying" as subordinate to the main clause "She knew".

Coordinators vs conjunctions

Coordinators are a subset of conjunctions, a broader category that also includes subordinators. While coordinators connect elements of equal syntactic importance, subordinators mark clauses as subordinate. Both coordinators and subordinators function to connect elements within a sentence, but they do so with different syntactic and semantic roles.

Coordinators vs prepositions

Coordinators and prepositions are both types of function words that serve to connect elements within a sentence. They share some similarities but also have important differences. Both coordinators and prepositions are used to express relationships between elements in a sentence, and they both belong to closed classes of words, meaning that their numbers are relatively fixed and new members are rarely added. Nevertheless, coordinators connect elements of equal syntactic importance, such as words, phrases, or clauses, while prepositions typically introduce phrases that function as modifiers or complements to other elements in the sentence. Coordinators appear between the elements they connect, whereas prepositions usually appear immediately before the element they introduce (e.g., a noun phrase). Coordinators often express logical relationships between the connected elements, such as addition, contrast, or alternatives (e.g., ''and'', ''but'', ''or''). Prepositions, on the other hand, usually express spatial, temporal, or other semantic relationships (e.g., ''in'', ''on'', ''during'').

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:English coordinators

Coordinators Coordinator may refer to: * Administrative assistant, or sometimes a slightly higher-ranking employee *Facilitator, a position within an organization or business with significant responsibilities for acting as a liaison between departments, stake ...

Conjunctions English words