Subordinating Conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions stand between two equivalent elements, e.g. nouns, two adjectives, two main clauses, etc.
Important Subordinating Conjunctions:
| y (and) | The conjunction y (and) is used to order parts of sentences in an enumeration and to link sentences together | Estos son Ana y Luis |
| o (or) | With o (or) you can order sentences or parts of sentences and offer a selection option. | ¿Quién es más divertido, Ana o Luis? |
| pero (but) | With the conjunction pero (but) opposites are expressed | Ana es más inteligente, pero Luis es más divertido |
| sino (but) | If the first part of the sentence is negated, the opposite is expressed in the second part of the sentence with sino (but) | Ana no es amiga de Luis, sino su hermana |
| ni … ni (neither … nor) | With ni … ni (neither … nor) one can also deny the first part of the enumeration. | Ni tú ni Carlos los conocéis |
| pues (as/because) | pues (as/because) indicates a reason that is relatively unimportant, that has already been mentioned, or that is knownvorausgesetzt wird. | Luis no tiene dinero, pues ahora no trabaja |
| Por eso (That’s why)
Por lo tanto (therefore) |
With the conjunctions por eso and por lo tanto (therefore) conclusions are initiated. | Por eso está buscando un trabajo |
| Sin embargo (However) | The opposite becomes even more meaningful if you use sin embargo (anyway, however) | Sin embargo, es optimista |
| En cambio (On the other hand) | The conjunction en cambio ( on the other hand ) also expresses a contradiction. A comparison is made indirectly with en cambio | En cambio, Ana se preocupa |
Notes:
If y precedes words beginning with i- or hi-, y becomes e. Before words that begin with hie-, it remains y:
Hablo español e inglés.
Una coca cola y hielo, por favor.
He estudiado Economía e Historia.
If o precedes a word that begins with o- or ho-, the o becomes u:
¿El anillo es de plata u oro?