What is a connective in English?
Connectives are words or phrases that link sentences (or clauses) together. Connectives can be conjunctions, prepositions, or adverbs. Whichever form they take, we use connectives constantly in written and spoken English.
Connectives are the often overlooked ‘smaller’ functional words that help us link our writing. You might like to think of them as the glue of the literary world, allowing our words to flow and lead on from one to another without sounding awkward. Essentially, we wouldn’t be able to speak or write in complete sentences without connectives!
Connectives can go from ‘and’ or ‘next’ to ‘consequently’ or ‘meanwhile.’
Connectives in English commonly fall into three categories:
- conjunctions
- prepositions
- adverbs
We’ll talk about conjunctions later on, but for now, here’s everything you need to know about prepositions and adverbs:
- A preposition is a linking word in a sentence used to show where things are in time or space. For example, there are prepositions of place, time, direct, ion, and agency. Prepositions are generally placed before the noun or pronoun to which they are referring in a sentence. For example: in, at, on, under.
- An adverb is a word that describes how an action is carried out. Adverbs can change or add detail to a verb, adjective, another adverb, or even a whole clause. Adverbs are sometimes said to describe manner or time. But, to put it simply, they tell you how, when, where or why something is being done. For example: slowly, sadly, upwards, North, here.
We use these connectives for a range of different reasons. First, they add specific meaning to a sentence, so we use them for further clarity when writing.
What is a connective phrase?
Before moving on, it’s worth noting that connectives can sometimes be more than one word. Phrases like ‘as well as’ and ‘in addition to’ can connect different phrases or sentences the same way as single words.
As well as this, conjunctions are sometimes used at the start of a sentence rather than in the middle. For an example, look no further than the start of the previous sentence!
Other examples of connective phrases include:
- For instance
- Such as
- On the other hand
Connectives and clauses: how to use connectives in clauses
Connectives and punctuation join different main and subordinate clauses in a sentence. Using connectives between clauses creates something called a compound sentence. Compound sentences are only possible by using connectives to join two main clauses together in a sentence.
For example, you could say: ‘I like blue cars, and I like red cars.’
Using the connective ‘and’ joins together two main clauses that would make sense. For example, the following sentences show how connectives can be used to join two clauses in a sentence:
- I like bananas, and I like grapes.
- Zoe can be rude at times, but she is a nice girl.
The formula below is a simple way to remember how to create these sentences for yourself!
