Coordinating Conjunctions

Conjonctions de coordination

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Coordinating conjunctions are small words that connect two or more grammatically equivalent words or phrases. The connected words might be adjectives, nouns, adverbs, verbs, or even independent clauses; the important thing is that they’re equal and each one serves the same function in the sentence.

Par exemple…

Il est jeune et beau.		He’s young and handsome
> Et connects two adjectives: jeune and beau
Veux-tu un café, un thé ou un chocolat ?		Do you want coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?
> Ou is joining three nouns: café, thé, and chocolat
Je l’ai lu, mais je n’ai rien compris.		I read it, but I didn’t understand a thing
> Mais is the connection between two equal clauses: je l’ai lu and je n’ai rien compris

French coordinating conjunctions

car		for, because
donc		so
ensuite		next
et		and
mais		but
ni*		nor
or		now, yet
ou		or
ou bien		or else
puis		then

  French school kids memorize the seven most common coordinating conjunctions with a mnemonic:

Mais	où	est	donc	Ornicar ?
mais	ou	et	donc	or	ni	car

Emphatic coordinating conjunctions

Some coordinating conjunctions are used in pairs to emphasize the connection.

et … et		both … and
ni … ni*		neither … nor
ou … ou		either … or
ou bien … ou bien		either … or
soit … soit		either … or

Par exemple…

– Avez-vous un chat ou un chien ? – J’ai et un chat et un chien.		– Do you have a cat or a dog? – I have both a cat and a dog.
Tu peux prendre soit un chocolat soit une boule de glace.		You can have either hot chocolate or a scoop of ice cream.

* Ni and ni … ni are negative coordinating conjunctions. They can only be used along with a negative marker such as pas or ne.

Par exemple…

Je n’ai pas de chat, ni de chien.		I don’t have a cat or a dog.
Je n’ai ni chat, ni chien.		I have neither a cat nor a dog.
Je ne vois ni le chat, ni le chien.		I see neither the cat nor the dog.

  Note that there’s no partitive or indefinite article after ni… ni, but a definite article is ok.

Coordinating Conjunctions Quiz

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the French coordinating conjunctions with this fill-in-the-blank exercise: À la télevision

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless French account to take this test. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

• Introduction to conjunctions
• Articles
• Negative adverbs

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