Learning English

Ands and buts

In 6 Minute Vocabulary you heard Catherine and Finn talking about words and phrases known as discourse markers - expressions that show our attitude.

There are many different kinds of discourse words that we use to organise what we say and write.

Conjunctions are a kind of discourse marker that we use to link ideas. Conjunctions are words like and, but, because, even though, while and so.

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To do

When you are feeling a bit low, how do you cheer yourself up? Maybe meet up with friends, read a book or listen to music? Some people prefer retail therapy! They go shopping to make themselves feel better. Read this description of such an experience. 

Retail therapy #1
"The other day I was feeling a bit miserable. I decided to go shopping to cheer myself up. At the time I was out I bought some new shoes. I bought a jacket. I bought lots of other bits and pieces. I didn't find anything I really liked. I didn't find anything I really wanted. I began to feel better which surprised me. The reason I began to feel better was I wasn't stuck in the house feeling sorry for myself."

This is a perfectly grammatically correct paragraph. However, it's not very natural. There are too many short sentences, lots of repetition of the pronoun I which means it doesn't flow. It is also very impersonal. Now let's rewrite it - this time, with some conjunctions.

Retail therapy #2
"The other day I was feeling a bit miserable so I decided to go shopping to cheer myself up. While I was out I bought some new shoes and a jacket and lots of other bits and pieces but I didn’t find anything I really liked. Even though I didn’t find what I wanted, I began to feel better because I wasn’t stuck in the house feeling sorry for myself."

The conjunctions link sentences and ideas together. This helps the text to flow more naturally and adds personality. Let's look at how they work.

So links two ideas. One idea follows on as a result or consequence of another one.
I was hungry so I had a sandwich.

While links an action with the time when it took place.
He learned to dive while he was at university.

And links two similar ideas or actions.
She went to the cinema and the theatre on the same day.

But introduces a contrast, often indicating something you might expect to happen, didn't.
She went to the cinema but she didn't get popcorn.

Even though is used to express that it is surprising that something has happened given what else has been said.
Even though she got a good promotion, she didn't get a pay rise.

Because introduces a reason for something.
I failed my driving test because I crashed into a police car.

To do 

Now it's your turn. In the exercise you have the same list of conjunctions for each question - but which one is the most suitable?

Next

Well done on the quiz! Now for some extremely informal spoken discourse words, click on to the next activity.