Section A : Grammar

22 Linking Devices
NOTES

Read the following sentences :

1. God made the country and man made the town.

2. Our homes are small but our hearts are big
3. Four and four make eight

In the first statement the word and is a linking device between the two sentences.
God made the country. Man made the town. Similarly in the second statement, the
word but links two sentences. While in the third sentence, the word and links two
words. In English grammar, such linking devices are known as conjunction. Accord-
ing to the latter's definition conjunction is a word which joins/links together sentences
and sometimes words. The advantage of using such devices is that you can join
together sentences and often make them more compact. For example :

(i) 'Ramanujan had not been able to enter Madras University because he
could not matriculate in English', is a short way of saying instead of
:

'Ramanujan had not been able to enter Madras University. He could

not matriculate in English.' 135
Communication Skills & (ii) 'Baljit and Surendra are good bowlers'. is a short way of saying
Personality Development instead of 'Baljit is a good bowler and Surendra is a good bowler.'

So,
NOTES
'The man is poor but honest.'
is a contracted way of saying, instead of :
'The man is poor. But he is honest.
Conjunctions are divided into two classes coordinating and subordi-
nating.

A. Coordinating Conjunctions.

Read the sentence :

Birds fly and fish swim.

The sentence contains two independent statements or two statements of

equal rank on importance. Hence the conjunction joining together these
two statements or clauses of equal rank is called a co-ordinating con-
junction. Hence the definition is, 'A co-ordinating conjunction joins
together clauses of equal rank. The chief co-ordinating conjunctions are
:
And, but, for, or, nor, also, either ........... or, neither ....... nor,
noteonly ...... but also, both ...... and else etc.
Co-ordinating conjunctions are of four kinds :
(i) Cumulative which simply adds one statement to another or in other
words join two clauses or similar ideas; such as :
and, as well as, both..... and, not only ....... but also, also.
e.g. He is both intelligent and smart. They are not only wise but also
beautiful.
(ii) Adversative which expresses opposition or contrast between two
statements. In other words those conjunctions that join two clauses of
opposite or dissimilar idea; are called Adversative Conjunctions. Such
as :
but, yet, still, whereas, nevertheless, only, not etc.
For example :
He is slow, but he is sure.
I was annoyed, still I kept quiet.
Conjunctions must be carefully distinguished from other linking de-
vices such as Relative pronouns, Relative adverbs and Prepositions
136 which are also connecting words.
 (i) This is the house that Mohan built. Section A : Grammar
(Relative pronoun)
(ii) This is the place where he was killed.
(Relative adverb) NOTES
(iii) Take this and give that
(Conjunction)
In the sentence (i) :
The Relative pronoun that refers to the noun house and also joins the
two parts of the sentence.
In the sentence (ii) :
The Relative adverb where modifies the verb was killed and also
joins the two parts of the sentence.
In the sentence (iii) :
The conjunction and simply links/joins the two parts of the sentence.
(iii) Alternative (Disjunctive) : Those which join two clauses express-
ing a choice between two alternatives, such as, or, otherwise, neither
...... nor, either ........... or, else; as for example :
(a) She must weep or she will die.
(b) Either he is mad or he feigns madness.
(iv) Relative : Those that join two clauses, the first presenting a state-
ment and the second sharing an inference; such as : so, hence, there-
fore, far.
(a) All precautions must have been neglected, for the cholera spread
rapidly.
(b) Something certainly fell down, for I heard a splash.

B. Subordinating conjunctions – These are the words that join one indepen-
dent clause with one or more dependent clauses, thus forming a complex
sentence. They are further divided into nine kinds :
(i) Time :
Those which form adverb clauses of time. Such as :
when, while, till, untill, or, since, before, after, as soon as, as
long as.
(ii) Place :
Those which form adverb clauses of place such as :
where, whence, whither.
(iii) Result :
Those which form adverb clauses of result, such as : so ..... 137
that.
Communication Skills & (iv) Purpose :
Personality Development
Those which form adverb clauses of purpose; such as :
so that, that, in order that, lest.
NOTES (v) Reason :
Those which form adverb clauses of reason, such as : because,
as, since, that.
(vi) Condition :
Those which form adverb clauses of condition; such as :
if, unless, in case, provided that, on condition that.
(vii) Contrast :
Those which form adverb clauses of contrast; such as :
though, although, as, however, notwith standing, that, whether
........... or.
(viii) Comparison :
Those which form adverb clauses of comparison; such as :
than, as ....... as, so ......... as.
(ix) Manner :
Those which form adverb clauses of manner; such as :
as, according as, as if, as though.
(x) Apposition :
Those which form noun clauses such as that (it is preceded) by
a transitive verb or a verb of incomplete predication, or a prepo-
sition, or a noun in apposition).

SENTENCE CONNECTORS :
The words which are used to connect sentences are called sentence con-
nectors. These are words like therefore, however, nevertheless. Because
these words connect sentences, either a full stop or a semicolon is used
to separate the sentences they join :

It was too cold; therefore we stayed back. (It was too cold. Therefore,
we stayed at home.) Conjunctions join sentences by coming in the begin-
ning or in the middle, but in the case of the connectors the place keeps
varying.

It was too cold, however, we decided to go out.

It was too cold, we decided, however, to go out.
It was too cold, we decided to go out, however.
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 Other sentence connectors are : moreover, besides, likewise, further Section A : Grammar
more, also, nonetheless, consequently, accordingly, hence, thus.

(Note : Some of these sentence-connectors do not normally come at the

end of sentences. e.g. hence, thus. NOTES

A few points about the punctuation of sentences in which conjunctions and

sentence-connectors are used, have special importance.

1. When two sentences are joined by conjunctions (and, but, so,

yet, for etc.) a comma can be used at the end of the first sen-
tence. (often, no commas are used and many writers treat comma
as optional before and, put, etc, and use them before so, yet,
for, etc.)

2. When sentence-connectors are used to join two sentences, a

comma at the end of the first sentence is not enough. Either a
semi-colon or a full stop has to be used.

3. Whereas no commas are used after the conjunctions, commas are

used. after moreover besides,likewise,furthermore,cousequently
accordingly, however. Words like also, therefore, thus, hence,
nevertheless are often used without commas after them but using
commas after them would not be wrong.

Exercise
A. Join the following sentences with 'and' or 'but'. One has been done for
you:
1. Meera is intelligent. Manohar is intelligent.
Meera and Manohar are intelligent.
2. Manu is brave. Saket is timid.
.............................................................................................................
3. Antonio was kind. Shylock was cruel.
.............................................................................................................
4. Namita is smart. Sheela is beautiful.
.............................................................................................................
5. Govind likes old melodies. His brother is fond of Rock and Roll.
.............................................................................................................
6. Mary is an American. Sujata is an Indian.
.............................................................................................................
7. Ravi is strong. Rahul is weak.
............................................................................................................. 139
Communication Skills & 8. Gagan paints pictures. Ajeet writes poems.
Personality Development
.............................................................................................................
9. Manish passed the exams. Harish failed in the exams.
NOTES .............................................................................................................
10. Geeta keeps late hours. Sarita goes to bed early.
.............................................................................................................
11. Azhar plays cricket. Bhutia plays football.
.............................................................................................................
12. Ritu is fond of his brother. Lata is afraid of him.
.............................................................................................................
B. Fill in the blanks with appropriate Conjunctions :
1. She got up early ................... could not reach school in time.
2. Sujeet learns wrestling ................... he is strong.
3. I ................... my son have come to see you.
4. Manimala ................... her children has gone to the fair.
5. Mahesh is hard-working ................... Suresh is lazy.
6. Namrata got the letter ................... did not give it to me.
7. Lakhan ................... Lohit is going to Mumbai.
8. ................... the students ................... their teacher was invited.
C. Pick out the Conjunctions from the given sentences and write them in the
space provided :
1. Ram and Shyam love each other. ..........................
2. Ram is tall but Shyam is short. ..........................
3. Hira or Moti could pull the cart. ..........................
4. She was punished for she was guilty. ..........................
5. I got late because it was raining heavily. ..........................
6. When the sun shines, it is daytime. ..........................
7. If I had seen him I must have talked to him. ..........................
8. Though my friend is poor, he is very happy. ..........................
9. Either you or your sister will be paid for this. ..........................
10. Neither the boy nor his father came to me. ..........................
11. Subha is not only tall but she is also beautiful. ..........................
12. He as well as his wife is doing this course. ..........................

140
D. Frame sentences of your own with the given Conjunctions : Section A : Grammar
1. But : ...........................................................
2. For : ...........................................................
3. Because : ........................................................... NOTES

4. And : ...........................................................
5. Or : ...........................................................
6. Either...or : ...........................................................
7. As well as : ...........................................................
8. Not only...but also : ...........................................................
9. Neither..nor : ...........................................................
10. When : ...........................................................
11. Though : ...........................................................

E. In the following sentences pick out the conjunctions :

1. Birds fly and fish swim.
2. He is slow but sure.
3. I was angry, still I kept quiet.
4. Belinda smiled and the world was gay.
5. Walk quickly, else you will not overtake him.
6. Hurry up, otherwise you will miss the train.
7. I read the paper because I was interested in the news.
8. I don’t care whether you stay or leave Delhi.
9. Since you say so, I will come.
10. We eat that we may live.
11. I will not see him though he comes.
12. A book is a book although there is nothing in it.
13. We shall go since you desire it.
14. I must play here for such is my duty.
15. Look before you leap.
16. Play while you play and work while you work.
17. While you are in Rome, do as the Romans do. Check Your Progress
18. As you sow, so shall you reap. 27. Whate are Linking
devices ? What are
19. He is richer than Govind. they ?
20. Catch me if you can.
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