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Conjunctions (Linking Words)

Summary of Lesson

Verb Tenses
An introduction to verbs &
personal pronouns

Conjunctions explained and a look at certain

definitions. Looking specifically at those
conjunctions that we use in speech all the
time and which need very little explanation.

Verbs - Ser (to be) Estar (to

be)
The present simple tense regular verbs (I am)

Looking at some other common

conjunctions and which are probably the
most useful.

The present simple tense irregular verbs (I am)

Looking at other less common conjunctions

but which can be used in certain specific
situations.

The past simple tense regular verbs (I was)

Looking specifically at correlative

conjunctions (paired conjunctions).

The past simple tense irregular verbs (I was)

What you can learn from this lesson

The imperfect tense - all

verbs (I used to)
The future tense - all verbs
(I will be)

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To have a good understanding of what

conjunctions are and how they are used to
link words and sentences.

The perfect tenses - regular

and irregular verbs

Knowing which conjunctions in Spanish are

the most common and which form an
important part of nearly all speech.

The conditional tense regular and irregular verbs

Knowing and remembering what some other

very useful Spanish conjunctions are and
when they are used.

INSTANT IMMERSION
SPANISH

The past subjunctive tense

(If I were to)

Appreciating how many Spanish

conjunctions are used in specific situations
and as such are much less common.
Knowing how correlative conjunctions
function and being aware of the most
common.

The infinitive tense (verbs

in their original forms - to
be)

More About Verbs

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The imperative tense

(command verbs - go / stay
etc)
'Haber' with the conditional
and past subjunctive tenses

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Being aware of the technical differences

between different types of conjunctions.

The continuous tenses (I

am going)

The present subjunctive

tense

PDF Lessons / Word Drills

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Conjunctions (Linking Words)

Reflexive verbs - Part 1

Reflexive verbs - Part 2
The 'Gerund' (the
equivalent of forming 'ing...'
verbs)
'Gustar' and similar verbs A different way of using
verbs

PART 1

The first part of this lesson explains what conjunctions are and gives some background information on
the different types of conjunctions that exist in Spanish and English. It then goes on to look at some of
the most common examples of conjunctions that are used.

What is a conjunction?

A conjunction is a word or word phrase that connects one part of a sentence to another part or
sometimes one sentence to a previous sentence. The conjunction links two parts of a sentence so that
together they make grammatical sense.

Mi abuelo y yo fuimos a la librera. My grandfather and I went to the book shop.

In the above sentence the word y (and), is the conjunction. Without this word the sentence wouldnt
make sense.

Correct terminology

All About Articles

Articles - definite /
indefinite ('the' and 'a' in
English)

All About Nouns

Nouns - Part 1 - (Masculine
or feminine?)
Nouns - Part 2 - (Gender
and forming plural nouns)

In both English and Spanish there are several different names given to different types of conjunctions
in order to distinguish how they link different types of sentences together. There are more Spanish
classifications than there are in English.

In this lesson very little distinction will be made between types of conjunctions as for the majority of
students this information is of little or no importance. However for technical reference the traditional
English classifications for three different types of conjunctions are as follows:

1) Coordinating conjunctions

All About Adjectives

Adjectives - (Agreement
and word order)

Used to connect words or sentences that are the same grammatically or which are of the same type. In
the following sentence the conjunction o (or), connects two words which are of the same type.

Adjectives - (Comparative
and superlative)

All About Pronouns

(T) ests viniendo en marzo o

febrero?

Are you coming in March or February?

Pronouns - object pronouns

(direct / indirect)

Adjectives & Pronouns

Adjectives and Pronouns
(demonstrative)
Adjectives and Pronouns
(possessive)

2) Subordinating conjunctions

Used to connect a dependant word or clause to other words so that the words together communicate
what is intended. In the following sentence the conjunction porque (because), is used to connect the
first clause to the second which makes the intention of the entire sentence clear.

Adjectives and pronouns

(indefinite)
Me levant temprano
porque tena que trabajar.

All About Adverbs

I got up early because I had to

work.

Adverbs - Part 1 - (words

ending in -ly in English)
Adverbs - Part 2 - (Other
forms / making
comparisons)

Prepositions
An introduction to
prepositions and relative
pronouns
Prepositions - A
comprehensive list with
examples

Conjunctions

3) Correlative conjunctions

These are paired conjunctions that act to make a connection between words or phrases. This is the only
distinction that is made between the different types of conjunctions that are looked at in this lesson.

(Yo) no tengo ni tiempo ni paciencia.

I neither have time nor patience.

Most common Spanish conjunctions

Conjunctions - linking words

Questions &
Negatives

Without actually realizing it you are probably already aware of what the most common Spanish
conjunctions are. This is because they are used frequently in everyday conversation.

Questions and negatives

(question words)
Spanish

English

Example sentences

or

Qu quieres para desayunar, cereal o

salchichas?

What do you want for breakfast, ceral or

sausages?

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pero

but

Me gustara probar uno pero estoy a dieta.

I would like to try one but I'm on a diet.

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porque

because

(Yo) tengo que trabajar porque necesito el

dinero.

I need to work because I need the money.

que

than / that

l espera que vengan.

He hopes that they come.
Es mejor tener, que no tener nada .
Its better to have than to have nothing .

si

if

(Yo) estudiara duro si yo fuera t.

I would study hard if I were you.

y (e)

and

Mi madre y mi padre se casaron hace treinta

aos.
My mother and my father got married thirty
years ago.

cuando

when

Nos veremos cuando (Yo) regrese maana.

We'll see each other when I get back
tomorrow.

Things to note:

1)

The preposition si (if), does not take an accent mark to differentiate it from the pronoun s
(himself, herself etc.) See the lesson on possessive adjectives and pronouns for more details.

2)

Use e instead of y (and) when positioned in front of words beginning with i or hi but not
hie for example; hijo e hija (son and daughter).

3)

Dont confuse porque (because), with por qu (why).

PART 2

The second part of this lesson looks at some of the most common Spanish conjunctions that you will
come across which havent already been looked at in part one of the lesson. These types of
conjunctions are used less frequently but are still very useful.

Spanish

English

Example sentences

a menos
que

unless

Ven conmigo a menos que (t) quieras

quedarte.
Come with me unless you want to stay.

as que

so

Tenemos visitantes as que limpia la casa.

We have visitors so clean the house.

aunque

even though /
though /
although

Lo revis aunque no fue necesario.

I checked it even though / though /
although it wasn't necessary.

con tal
que

as long as

(Yo) te puedo prestar dinero con tal que me

lo devuelvas.
I can lend you money as long as you pay me
back.

debido a

as a result of /
due to

Hay inundaciones debido a las tormentas.

There are floods as a result of / due to the
rain.

mientras

while

(T) quieres algo mientras ests

esperando?
Do you want anything while you are waiting?

mientras
que

whereas

(T) tienes que pagar mientras que (yo) no.

You have to pay whereas I don't.

por
eso/tanto

therefore

l no tiene una licencia; por eso (yo) voy a

manejar.

He doesn't have a license; therefore I'm

going to drive.

pues

then / well

Estoy borracho! Pues, deja de tomar.

I'm drunk. Then stop drinking.
Pues, como (yo) estaba diciendo.
Well, as I was saying.

sin
embargo

however

Hay cinco galones, sin embargo no son

mos.
There's five gallons, however they're not
mine.

PART 3

The third part of this lesson looks at some other conjunctions which are useful in certain situations. In
reality there are many more conjunctions in the Spanish language than those we will look at here but
most of them are either very specific or are not used very often.

Spanish

English

Example sentences

no
obstante

nevertheless

l confes, pero no obstante todava se fue

a la crcel.
He confessed but nevertheless he still went
to prison.

en caso
de que

in case (that)

Dale esto a mi esposa en caso de que (yo)

no regrese.
Give this to my wife in case (that) I don't
come back.

sino

but / rather

No es un problema, sino un reto.

It's not a problem, but / rather a challenge.

o sea

in other
words

l me dijo que no puede. O sea l no quiere!

He said he can't. In other words he doesn't
want to.

Como si

as if, as
though

Ella est actuando como si fuera una

princesa.
She's acting as if / as though she were a
princess.

a pesar de
que

despite the
fact

l se fue a pesar de que (yo) le dije no.

He left despite the fact I told him not to.

como

as

Como (yo) estoy pagando (yo) tengo el

derecho de ir primero.
As I'm paying I have the right to go first.

aun as

even so

Es muy grande. Aun as no va a caber.

It's really big. Even so, it's not going to fit.

PART 4

The final part of this lesson looks at correlative conjunctions. As already mentioned in part one of this
lesson these are paired conjunctions that act to make a connection between words or phrases. Not
many of these types of conjunctions are used in either Spanish or English (one is being used right
here)!

Spanish

English

Example sentences

ni...ni

neither nor

No vienen, ni Elsa ni su amiga.

Neither Elsa nor her friend is coming.

o..o

eitheror

Ellos pueden o se quedan o se van.

They can either stay or leave.

ya...ya

whetheror

No me importa ya si (t) me dices ya no.

I don't care whether you tell me or not.

That concludes this lesson on conjunctions. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for
this lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your understanding.

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