# conjunction

/kənˈdʒəŋkʃən/ (US) · /kəndʒˈʌŋkʃən/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/conjunction
Updated: 2026-06-20

## Senses

### 1. grammar

noun · CEFR B2 · Technical

a word used to connect other words, phrases, or parts of a sentence.

For teachers: a part of speech used to connect words, phrases, or clauses, indicating the semantic relationship between the joined elements.

- Words like 'and', 'but', and 'because' are common conjunctions in English.
- The student struggled to distinguish between coordinating and subordinating conjunctions when analyzing complex sentence structures.

Usage: In linguistics, it refers to a specific functional category of words.

### 2. happening together

noun · CEFR C1 · Formal

the situation where two or more things happen at the same time or work together.

For teachers: the state of being joined or occurring together; a coincidence or combination of events.

- The success of the project was due to a conjunction of hard work and good luck.
- The economic crisis was caused by a rare conjunction of high inflation, energy shortages, and political instability.

Usage: Often used in the phrase 'in conjunction with'.

### 3. astronomy

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

when two planets or stars appear to be in the same place in the sky.

For teachers: the alignment of two celestial bodies such that they have the same celestial longitude as observed from a third body, usually Earth.

- Amateur astronomers gathered to watch the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.
- The rare planetary conjunction provided researchers with a unique opportunity to calibrate their deep-space observational equipment.

### 4. logic

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a statement that uses 'and' to join two other statements.

For teachers: a compound proposition that is true if and only if all its component propositions are true.

- In logic, a conjunction is only true if both parts of the sentence are true.
- The truth table demonstrates that the conjunction of two variables remains false unless both inputs are simultaneously verified.

## Examples

- The word 'and' is a very common conjunction.
- To make your writing flow better, try using a conjunction to combine those two short sentences.
- A coordinating conjunction joins elements of equal syntactic weight, whereas a subordinating one introduces a dependent clause that relies on the main sentence.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.