Grammar: Conjunctions - Co-ordinating and Subordinating – iGCSE French CAIE Revision

Grammar: Conjunctions - Co-ordinating and Subordinating

Section: Co-ordinating Conjunctions

Co-ordinating conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses that are grammatically equal, creating a balance in the sentence.
Some common co-ordinating conjunctions in French are et (and), mais (but), ou (or), donc (so, therefore), ni…ni (neither…nor), car (for, because), and ou…ou (either…or).
For example: Il est tard et je suis fatigué means ‘It is late, and I’m tired’.

Section: Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions link subordinate clauses to main clauses, changing the balance of a sentence. A subordinate clause can’t stand alone as a full sentence, and it adds additional information to the main clause.
Common subordinating conjunctions include que (that), quand (when), si (if), parce que (because), bien que (although) and pendant que (while).
For instance: Je suis content parce que j’ai réussi mon test translates to ‘I am happy because I passed my test’.

Section: Placement of Conjunctions

Conjunctions typically come between the clauses, phrases or words they are connecting.
For example in the sentence Je peux jouer au football ou lire un livre, ‘ou’ is placed between ‘jouer au football’ and ‘lire un livre’.

Section: Conjunctions and Tense Agreement

Certain subordinating conjunctions, like quand, après que, and une fois que, often require the use of the future or future perfect tense in the main clause when the subordinate clause is in the future.
For example, with quand: Quand tu arriveras, nous mangerons means ‘When you arrive, we will eat’.

Section: Conjunctions and Negation

In negative constructions, conjunctions like ni…ni function to negate both parts of the statement they connect.
For instance, Je n’ai ni frères ni sœurs means ‘I have neither brothers nor sisters’.