Editing Conjunction (grammar) (section)

== Subordinating conjunctions ==
{{see also|Conjunctive adverb}}

Subordinating conjunctions, also called subordinators, are conjunctions that introduce [[Content clause|content]], [[Relative clause|relative]], and [[Adverbial clause|adverbial clauses]] as [[Dependent clause|subordinate]] ones, and join them to other clauses, whether [[independent clauses|independent]] or dependent. The most common subordinating conjunctions in English include ''after'', ''although'', ''as'', ''as far as'', ''as if'', ''as long as'', ''as soon as'', ''as though'', ''because'', ''before'', ''even if'', ''even though'', ''every time'', ''if'', ''in order that'', ''since'', ''so'', ''so that'', ''than'', ''that'', ''though'', ''unless'', ''until'', ''when'', ''whenever'', ''where'', ''whereas'', ''wherever'', and ''while''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Subordinating Conjunctions |url=https://www.grammarly.com/blog/subordinating-conjunctions/ |website=[[grammarly.com]]|date=18 May 2017 }}</ref> 
 
A [[complementizer]] is subordinating conjunction that introduces a [[content clause]] (that is, a clause that is a [[Complement (linguistics)|complement]] of the verb phrase, instead of the more typical nominal subject or object): e.g. "I wonder ''whether'' he'll be late. I hope ''that'' he'll be on time". Some subordinating conjunctions, when used to introduce a phrase instead of a full clause, become prepositions with identical meanings. [[Relativizer|Relativizers]] are subordinators that introduce relative clauses.

The subordinating conjunction performs two important functions within a sentence: marking the higher rank of the independent clause and transiting between the two clauses’ ideas by indicating the nexus of time, place, or cause. Subordinators therefore structure the relationship between the clauses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/conjunctions/subordinating-conjunctions/ |title=What are Subordinating Conjunctions? |publisher=Gingersoftware.com |access-date=2015-11-26}}</ref>

In many [[subject–object–verb|verb-final]] [[language]]s, [[dependent clause|subordinate clauses]] must precede the [[main clause]] on which they depend. The equivalents to the subordinating conjunctions of non-verb-final languages such as English are either
* clause-final conjunctions (e.g. in [[Japanese language|Japanese]]); or
* [[suffix]]es attached to the [[verb]], and not separate words<ref>{{cite book |last=Dryer |first=Matthew S. |year=2005 |chapter=Order of adverbial subordinator and clause |title=The World Atlas of Language Structures |editor=Haspelmath, Martin |editor2=Dryer, Matthew S. |editor3=Gil, David |editor4=Comrie, Bernard |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-199-25591-1}}</ref>

Such languages often lack conjunctions as a [[part of speech]], because:

* the form of the [[verb]] used is formally nominalised and cannot occur in an independent clause
* the clause-final conjunction or suffix attached to the verb is a marker of [[Grammatical case|case]] and is also used in [[noun]]s to indicate certain functions. In this sense, the subordinate clauses of these languages have much in common with [[adpositional phrase|postpositional phrases]].

In other West Germanic languages like German and Dutch, the word order after a subordinating conjunction is different from that in an independent clause, e.g. in Dutch {{Lang|nl|want}} ('for') is coordinating, but {{Lang|nl|omdat}} ('because') is subordinating. The clause after the coordinating conjunction has normal word order, but the clause after the subordinating conjunction has verb-final word order. Compare:

: {{Lang|nl|Hij gaat naar huis, '''want''' hij '''is''' ziek}}. ('He goes home, for he is ill.')
: {{Lang|nl|Hij gaat naar huis, '''omdat''' hij ziek '''is'''.}} ('He goes home, because he is ill.')

Similarly, in German, {{Lang|de|denn}} ('for') is coordinating, but {{Lang|de|weil}} ('because') is subordinating:
:{{Lang|de|Er geht nach Hause, '''denn''' er '''ist''' krank.}} ('He goes home, for he is ill.')
:{{Lang|de|Er geht nach Hause, '''weil''' er krank '''ist'''.}} ('He goes home, because he is ill.')