Conjunctions — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. In: 'I wanted ice cream, but the shop was closed, so we got cookies instead.' What does 'so' show?
A) Contrast between two ideas
B) A result that follows from a cause
C) A choice between two options
D) An added detail of equal weight
'So' is a FANBOYS word that signals a result. Because the shop was closed, the result was getting cookies instead.
2. In: 'Although it was late, we kept reading because the story was thrilling.' What role does 'because' play?
A) It introduces a contrast.
B) It introduces a reason or cause.
C) It joins two equal items in a list.
D) It shows a time order.
'Because' is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a reason. It tells why the readers kept reading despite the late hour.
3. In: 'Both Maya and Leo studied, yet only Maya passed the quiz.' What kind of conjunction is 'yet'?
A) A correlative conjunction
B) A subordinating conjunction
C) A coordinating (FANBOYS) conjunction showing contrast
D) A conjunctive adverb
'Yet' is one of the FANBOYS coordinating conjunctions and shows contrast, similar to 'but', between two independent clauses.
4. In: 'When the bell rings, students line up and walk to the bus.' What role does the second 'and' play?
A) Joins two complete sentences with a comma
B) Joins two verbs in the same clause
C) Starts a dependent clause
D) Shows a contrast between actions
'And' here joins two verbs ('line up' and 'walk') that share the same subject 'students', so no comma is needed before it.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. In 'I tried hard, but I lost, so I will practice more,' the word 'but' shows contrast.
'But' is a coordinating conjunction that signals contrast between two independent clauses, here between trying hard and losing.
2. In 'We stayed inside because it was raining, and we played board games,' the word 'because' introduces a reason.
'Because' is a subordinating conjunction that introduces a reason, explaining why an action happened.
3. In 'Either we hike or we bike, but we must go outside,' the pair 'either / or' is called a correlative conjunction.
Correlative conjunctions are pairs like either/or, both/and, and neither/nor that work together to join equal parts of a sentence.
4. In 'The game was long, yet exciting, and the crowd cheered loudly,' the word 'yet' acts most like the word but.
'Yet' and 'but' are both FANBOYS conjunctions that show contrast and can often be swapped in a sentence.
5. A sentence with too many ideas joined without proper conjunctions or punctuation is called a run-on.
A run-on sentence joins independent clauses without correct punctuation or conjunctions, and it can be fixed using FANBOYS or by splitting into separate sentences.