Conjunctive Adverb

The word conjunction means to connect or link two things together. You would have heard about conjunctions in grammar too. In grammar they do what they literally mean; connect words or sentences.

In today’s article, we will not discuss simple conjunctions but the conjunctive adverbs. Yes! They are a thing. And English geeks like me and you are desperate to know what they mean. Read on to find out more about conjunctive adverbs.

Conjunctive Adverb

As the word suggests, conjunctive adverbs connect words and phrases with each other so you can effortlessly transition from one idea to the next in the text. Specifically, conjunctive adverbs are some particular adverbs that serve the purpose of connection between words and phrases.

Example:

It started raining therefore, we decided to stay home.

In the above example, the two phrases it started raining and we decided to stay at home are connected or linked together with the help of an adverb therefore. Thus therefore in the above example is called conjunctive adverb.

Coordinating Conjunctions

When conjunctive adverbs link together two independent or main clauses together which give the complete meaning of the sentence to the reader, they are referred to as coordinating conjunctions.

One thing to keep in mind while using coordinating conjunctions is the punctuation. When a coordinating conjunction occurs in a sentence, a semi colon is used before it and a comma after it.

Example:

He didn’t come home; instead, he walked over to Alice’s apartment.

In the above example, both the clauses are independent and complete so we used a semi colon before coordinative adverb instead and a comma after it.

Some examples of conjunctive adverbs include: also/besides/consequently/conversely/finally/furthermore/hence/however/indeed/instead/likewise/meanwhile/moreover/nevertheless/next/nonetheless/otherwise/similarly/still/subsequently

When in a sentence, the break or link is weak, the comma after the conjunctive adverb is omitted.

Example:

The papers were flying all over the room. Turning on the fan was a mistake indeed.

Consider the above example. There are two sentences involved and none uses the comma or semi colon. The conjunctive adverb indeed connects the two sentences but the link is so weak that we don’t use any comma.

If the same example is expresses as:

The fan made the papers fly all over the room; thus, Sara turned it off immediately.

Now the connection is strong so we use both a comma and a semi colon.