Hi, I'm Ashley and this is Mia! In this video, we'll learn about subordinating conjunctions.
Are you ready? Let's go!
You've already learned that conjunctions join words, phrases, and clauses together, like
"peanut butter and jelly." "Play a game or watch a show." "Not this, but that."
Remember, coordinating conjunctions join words, phrases, or clauses
that are of equal importance or the same type. The seven coordinating conjunctions are
"for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," and "so," also known as the
FANBOYS. There's another type of conjunction called "subordinating conjunctions."
Subordinating conjunctions include words like "when," "while," "although,"
"because," "if," "once," and sometimes even word combinations, like "now that" and "as long as."
Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent clauses. Dependent clauses are
also known as subordinate clauses, because they always begin with a subordinating conjunction.
You can spot dependent clauses because subordinating conjunctions
are always found at the beginning of a dependent clause. As a matter of fact,
the subordinating conjunction is the very thing that causes that clause to become dependent.
Let's take a look at this sentence: "Finn went to the ropes course."
We know that this is a clause because it has a subject, "Finn," and a verb,
"went," which indicates a predicate, and we know that this is an independent clause because it
can stand alone as a sentence. But what if we add the word "when" to the beginning of this clause?
It's still a clause because it still has a subject and a verb, but it's no longer
independent – it's now a dependent clause. And to form a complete sentence, we have to add it
to an independent clause, like "When Finn went to the ropes course, she wore her safety gear."
The word "when" is a subordinating conjunction,
and adding it to the beginning of our independent clause made the clause dependent.
Let's look at another one. "Teresa is a great gymnast." That's an independent clause. If we
add the subordinating conjunction "because," we turn it into a dependent clause.
"Because Teresa is a great gymnast" can no longer stand alone as a sentence. It needs to be attached
to an independent clause, like "Because Teresa is a great gymnast, she wins many awards."
There is not an exact number of subordinating conjunctions because many words that act as a
subordinating conjunction also act as other parts of speech in different contexts, and
sometimes we combine words to form subordinating conjunctions. Whew! However, the most commonly
used subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although," "as," "when," "while," "until,"
"before," "because," "if," and "since." We can remember those words if we remember AAAWWUBBIS.
That's a nonsense word, but it can help you remember these subordinating conjunctions.
AAAWWUBBIS. That's fun to say!
Let's practice adding subordinating conjunctions to sentences. "Blank
I prove that I am responsible, my parents said we can get a puppy."
Remember those AAAWWUBBIS words? Which one fits in the sentence?
I think "If I proved that I'm responsible" would make sense here.
Let's try another. "Blank Marissa made cookies, she washed the dishes." Hmm.
Think about those commonly used subordinating conjunctions. I think "after" would work
well in this sentence. "After Marissa made cookies, she washed the dishes."
Okay, last one. "Blank we walked along the beach, we collected shells. Hmm.
I like "As we walked along the beach, we collected shells."
Let's review what we've learned. Subordinating conjunctions join dependent clauses to independent
clauses, and subordinating conjunctions can always be found at the beginning of a dependent clause.
That's why dependent clauses are also known as subordinate clauses. Finally,
the most commonly used subordinating conjunctions are "after," "although,"
"as," "when," "while," "until," "because," "before," "if," and "since," or AAAWWUBBIS.
That's a clever way to remember them, and we know we should always be clever!