In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Polonius uses correlative conjunctions when he says, "Neither a borrower nor a lender be."

• I wanted to go to the Caribbean until I learned that you would be there at the same time.

• I wanted to go to the Caribbean because I learned that you would be there at the same time.

• I wanted to go to the Caribbean after I learned that you would be there at the same time.

• I wanted to go to the Caribbean, but I learned that you would be there at the same time.

Conjunctions are often overlooked, but they are critically important in creating logical transitions in written arguments. Conjunctions connect words, phrases, clauses, and sentences.

Coordinating conjunctions, such as "and," "but," "otherwise," and "yet," connect passages of equal value. They can connect words: "She likes basketball and soccer." They can connect phrases: "In outrageous costumes and with loud fanfare, the band mounted the stage." They can connect clauses or sentences: "She can leap high in the air, but her brother leaps higher." (In this last example, a comma separates the connected elements because each could otherwise stand on its own.)

Subordinating conjunctions, such as "when," "as," "before," "because," and "unless," introduce and connect subordinate clauses (which generally contain minor ideas) to the rest of the sentence. In the sentence "Make sure you have purchased everything on your list before you leave the store," the phrase "before you leave the store" is a subordinate clause.

Correlative conjunctions come in pairs, such as "either" and "or," "neither" and "nor," and "whether" and "or." Consider what the famous saying "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" would be like without the conjunctions.

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