Discourse Markers: conjunctions and prepositions

Concurso Público para Professor Efetivo do Ensino

Básico, Técnico e Tecnológico do Instituto Ferderal de

Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Ceará.

Discourse Markers:

Conjunctions and prepositions

Teacher – Ailton Pinheiro Moreira

Class Topics

1. Coherence and cohesion;

2. Conjunctions;

3. Coordinating Conjunctions;

4. Subordinating Conjunctions;

5. Correlative Conjunctions;

6. Prepositions;

7. Conjunctions and prepositions

functioning as linking words.

Cohesion and Coherence

"My favorite color is blue. I like it because it is

calming and it relaxes me. I often go outside in

the summer and lie on the grass and look into

the clear sky when I am stressed. For this

reason, I'd have to say my favorite color is

blue."

Cohesion with NO Coherence

"My favorite color is blue and I love

China. Blue sports cars go very

fast. Driving in this way is dangerous and

can cause many car crashes. I had a car

accident in Canada and broke my leg. As

a result, I was very sad because I had to

miss a holiday in Europe because of the

injury or my favorite color which is blue."

Cohesive, NOT Coherent

Coherence with NO Cohesion

"My favorite color is blue. I'm

calm and relaxed. In the summer

I lie on the grass and look up."

Cohesion

“My favorite color is blue because it

makes me feel calm and relaxed. When

it’s summer, I lie on the grass and look

up into the clear sky.”

A short answer, an explanation, an

example…

Conjunctions

A conjunction (also called connective or

linking word) is a word such as and, but,

so, for, when, since, however, etc.

They are used to make a logical

connection between phrases, sentences,

or clauses.

They are organized in two main groups:

coordinating and subordinating

conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions

Maria studied hard for the test.

Maria didn’t pass the test.

Maria is going to study harder for

the next test.

Connecting ideas in the text

What are coordinating conjunctions?

Coordinating conjunctions are words

which connect phrases, sentences, or

clauses of equal rank.

They connect phrases, sentences, or

clauses which do not depend on each

other to make sense.

They connect complete thoughts in a

text.

John went to school.

Mariana went to school.

Michael went to school.

John, Mariana, AND Michael went to school.

Sebastian worked very hard today.

Sebastian is very tired now.

Sebastian worked very hard today, SO he is very

tired now.

Francis studied hard for the exam.

Francis failed.

Francis studied hard for the exam, BUT he failed.

FANBOYS

The coordinating conjunctions are:

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

The acronym FANBOYS makes it

easier to remember them.

Notice that all the sentences above

can stand alone. So, they don’t need

the others to make sense. They are

complete thoughts.

FANBOYS

For: reason;

And: addition;

Nor: negative alternatives;

But: opposition, contrast;

Or: affirmative alternatives;

Yet: opposition, contrast;

So: result.

What are subordinating

conjunctions?

Subordinating conjunctions are

linking words which connect one

dependent clause to an independent

clause.

It always comes in the beginning of a

dependent (subordinate) clause.

A subordinate clause cannot make

sense on its own.

Although it was raining.

While I was sleeping.

When the class started.

After the test was finished.

Marcos went jogging.

She was enjoying the local night life.

Phelix was still in the hallway.

Everybody was confident.

Marcos went jogging although it was

raining.

While I was sleeping, she was enjoying

the local night life.

When the class started, Phelix was still in

the hallway.

Everybody was confident after the test

was finised.

Common Subordinating

Conjunctions

Cause/consequence: because, since,

so that.

Because the hinges were creaking, Pedro

oiled them.

Comparison: as, than.

He worked harder than I expected.

Condition: if, in case, unless,

whether.

Carlos will only go out tonight if he tidies

his room.

Concession/contrast: although, even

if, even though, however, rather than,

though, whereas.

Even though he is very poor, he is always

neatly dressed.

Purpose: in order that, so that.

Francisca is learning to speak English so

that she can study abroad.

Time: after, as soon as, before, once,

still, till, until, when, whenever,

while.

When Greta entered the hall, she tripped

and fell down.

After I finish High School, I will go to

college.

Practice

1. ___ he worked hard all year long, he wasn’t able to buy his father an expensive gift.SinceBecauseEven though

2. ___ he didn’t have much money, he wasn’t able to buy his father an expensive gift.Even thoughBecauseAlthough

3. ___ he didn’t have much money, he

was still able to buy an expensive gift

for his father.

As soon as

Unless

Although

4. ___ he works hard all year long, he

won’t be able to buy his father an

expensive gift.

Once

Since

Unless

5. ___ he worked hard all year long and

was able to earn a lot of money, he

bought his father a very expensive gift.

Though

Since

Although

6. ___ spend a lot of money on a gift, he

made a present for his father.

If

Before

Rather than

Correlative Conjunctions

They are always used in pairs, that is, they

never appear alone in a sentence.

However, they never come one right after

the other.

They are used to link elements with the

same grammatical function.

E.g.: both... and, either... or, neither...

nor, not only... but also, as/so... as,

whether... or.

Correlative Conjunctions

I’d like to work with both animals

and children.

Both my grandfather and my father

worked in a hospital.

We can either go by bus or by car.

I neither smoke nor drink.

That student is not only intelligent

but also very kind.

Prepositions

The word “preposition” (pre-position)

means “place before”. They usually come

before another word, usually a noun or a

pronoun;

A word that shows and describes the

relationship between a noun or a pronoun

and other words in a sentence.

Prepositions are nearly always combined

with other words in structures called

prepositional phrases.

Of, for, on, in, at, over, among, between,

after, before...

Prepositions of Time: at, on, and in

We use at to designate specific times.

The train is due at 12:15 p.m.

We use on to designate days and dates.

My brother is coming on Monday.

We use in for nonspecific times during a

day, a month, a season, or a year.

She goes to school in the morning.

Prepositions of Place: at, on, and in

We use at for complete addresses orevents.

I live at 55 First Avenue, Downtown, SaintFracis.

We use on to designate names of streets,avenues, neighborhoods.

The post office is on Carlton Avenue.

We use in for the names of land-areas suchas cities, towns, counties, countries,continents.

I used to live in Fortaleza.

Prepositions of Movement

We use to to show movement with

the aim of a specific destination.

I moved to Germany in 1998.

He's gone to the mall.

We use through to show movement

from one side of an enclosed space to

the other.

The train went through the tunnel.

We use across to show movement from oneside of a surface or line to another.

She swam across the river.

Other prepositions of movement:

She ran...

into the classroom.

along the road. (The length of the road.)

around the playground.

away from the policeman.

back to the store.

up the hill.

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