According to English Club, coordinating conjunctions join two parts of a sentence that are "grammatically equal." Coordinating conjunctions may connect single words: "Please pass the bread and butter." They may also connect two clauses: "I was going to swim, but it was raining." Coordinating conjunctions are usually short words, the most common being and, but, yet, or, nor, for and so.
Subordinating conjunctions join a dependent clause and an independent clause. A dependent clause cannot stand alone as a sentence; it needs or depends on the independent clause for meaning. Introducing the dependent clause, subordinate conjunctions are typically at the beginning of the sentence. They build a relationship between these two clauses. For example, "Unless I hear otherwise, I'm going to turn my report in on the original due date." Subordinate conjunctions include: after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, where, whether and while.
Appearing in pairs, correlative conjunctions act similar to coordinating conjunctions in that they connect grammatically equal clauses. A correlative conjunction uses a coordinating conjunction connected to an adverb or adjective. For example, "Both my sister and my brother have blond hair like me." Common correlative conjunctions include: both/and, not only/but also, not/but, either /or, neither/nor, and whether/or.
Conjunctive adverbs build relationships among ideas and connect ideas within a sentence. For example, "I didn't remember to put gas in my car; consequently, I ran out on the way to the store." Conjunctive adverbs function similar to coordinating conjunctions, but are unique due to their punctuation: semicolon followed by a comma. Common conjunctive adverbs include moreover, nevertheless, as a result, consequently, however.