Conjunctions Teaching Resources

Teach students how to use conjunctions to build better sentences this school year with the help of printable worksheets, digital activities and more teacher resources created for Australia teachers like you!

This collection is stocked with Australian English curriculum-aligned resources designed to help your students better understand how to combine sentences as they become more polished writers and tackle more complicated sentence structures. Teach what conjunctions are, how to use them and how to properly punctuate sentences with conjunctions in them!

New to teaching this part of the curriculum, or just looking for a conjunctions refresher? Read on for a primer from our teaching team, including a definition of conjunctions you can use to introduce your lesson, plus examples of the different types of conjunctions we use in English!

What Is a Conjunction? A Kid-Friendly Definition

Knowing the definition of this part of speech is only part of the battle. You'll also need to explain conjunctions to your students. Here's a kid-friendly definition from our teacher team:

Imagine you have two sentences that you want to connect. That's when a conjunction comes to the rescue. A conjunction is a special word that helps us join two sentences or ideas together when we're writing.

Types of Conjunctions and Examples of Each

There are three main types of conjunctions:

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions are the superheroes of the sentence world because they join two sentences of equal importance. The most common coordinating conjunctions are 'and,' 'but' and 'or.'

• And is like a friend for writers when we use this conjunction in a sentence. It helps us add more things together when we're writing. For example: 'I like pizza, and I like ice cream.'
• 'But' is like a stop sign because it shows a contrast between two things. For example: 'I wanted to go to the park, but I had homework to do.'
• 'Or' is a conjunction that gives you options. For example: 'Do you want a red up or a blue cup?'

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions connect a main sentence with a less important one. They show a relationship of time, cause and effect or condition. Some examples are 'because,' 'when' and 'if.'

• 'Because" explains why something happens. For example: "I couldn't go outside because I didn't finish my homework."
• 'When' tells you the time something happened or will happen. For example: 'I will do my homework when I get home.'
• 'If' shows a condition or possibility. For example: 'If it rains, we will play in the classroom at recess.'

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are a bit like a pair of shoes because they always come in pairs and work together. Some examples are 'either...or,' 'neither...nor' and 'both...and.'

• 'Either...or' gives you a choice between two things. For example: "You can either have cake or ice cream."
• 'Neither...nor' means not one thing and not another thing. For example: 'Neither the dog nor the cat is allowed at school.'
• 'Both...and' means having two things together. For example: 'She is both smart and nice.'