Connective Words

A connective word is a word that connects two clauses or phrases. Connective words can be:

Conjunctions (such as "and" or "but")
Prepositions (such as "in" or "after")
Adverbs (such as "then" or "therefore")

Clauses and Phrases

In order to understand how connective words work, it is first important to understand the difference between a clause and a phrase.

Clause: A group of words that contains both a subject and a verb. For example, the following sentence has two clauses: "I eat breakfast every morning" (clause 1) and "I brush my teeth afterwards" (clause 2). Each of these clauses could stand alone as its own sentence.
Phrase: A group of words that does not contain both a subject and a verb. For example, the following sentence has two phrases: "in the morning" (phrase 1) and "after I eat breakfast" (phrase 2). Neither of these phrases could stand alone as its own sentence.

Connecting Clauses and Phrases

Now that we know the difference between clauses and phrases, let's look at how connective words can be used to connect them.

Conjunctions

Conjunctions are perhaps the most common type of connective word. They are used to join two clauses together. For example, in the sentence "I eat breakfast every morning and I brush my teeth afterwards," the conjunction "and" is used to connect the two clauses.

Prepositions

Prepositions are another type of connective word that are often used to connect two phrases together. For example, in the sentence "I brush my teeth after I eat breakfast," the preposition "after" is used to connect the two phrases.

Adverbs