Whenever you need to connect two ideas, you need conjunction. After you have mastered creating a phrase in French, the next step is creating a more complex one.
Today, we’ll learn the basic conjunctions of everyday French speech.
What is a conjunction?
The conjunction is an invariable word of speech that serves to connect part of speech – they link words, phrases, and clauses into more complex, related structures.
- two words or groups
Je suis très franc et direct.
I am very outspoken and direct.
- two or more sentences
Il a réussi le test car il a beaucoup étudié.
He has succeeded in his test because he worked a lot.
There are two types of conjunctions:
- Coordinating conjunctions (conjonctions de coordination) connect two equal words or clauses.
- Subordinating conjunctions (conjonctions de subordination) link a dependent clause to the main clause.
Coordinating conjonctions
Coordinating conjunctions connect words, groups of words, and clauses of the same function.
In all, there are 7 main coordinating conjunctions. To remember them and therefore easily identify them within a sentence, there is a well-known mnemonic trick, which is the question: “Mais ou et donc Ornicar?”
This sentence helps you remember that the various coordinating conjunctions are the invariable words but, or, and, therefore, or, nor, and because.
The conjunctions are ( et, ou, ni, mais, or, car, donc)
Et – and
Prendre une douche après le travail ou à la fin d’une journée de travail.
Take a shower after using the product or at the end of a working day.
Ou – or
Préfèrez-vous que l’on aille au restaurant ce soir ou que l’on reste chez soi ?
Would you rather go to the restaurant tonight or stay home?
Ni, ni – neither, nor
Je n’aime ni le thé ni le café.
I don’t like tea nor coffee.
Mais – but
Je voulais prendre le taxi mais je n’avais pas assez de monnaie.
I wanted to take the taxi I didn’t have enough change.
Or – but, yet
Il faudrait arrived au travail à 10 heures , or, il y a trop de traffic.
I should be at work at 10h, but/and yet there’s too much traffic.
Car -because
Je nage car c’est du bon exercise.
I swim because it’s good exercise.
Donc – therefore, so
expressing cause and effect
Tu m’aimes, donc je t’aime.
You love me so I love you.
Mais ou est donc Ornicar ?
We admit it can be overwhelming at first to remember all these conjunctions in French.
Using the well-known mnemonic is perhaps the best way to learn it all, and start making complex sentences. Agnieszka Murdoch, a language coach explains in detail, how can mnemotechnique help you master any language. Read her article “How to use mnemonics to learn vocabulary in any language“.