Italian Conjunctions

Understanding Conjunctions

• Conjunctions connect sentences, ideas, or parts of a sentence.
• They can be classified as either coordinative (combine independent clauses) or subordinative (combine an independent and dependent clause).
• In Italian, common coordinative conjunctions include e (and), o (or), ma (but) and però (however).
• Common subordinative conjunctions include che (that), se (if), perché (because) and quando (when).

Understanding Conjunctive Phrases

• Besides single-word conjunctions, Italian also has conjunctive phrases or conjunctions of more than one word. These include non solo...ma anche (not only...but also), prima di (before), nel caso che (in case that).
• It is essential to understand both single-word conjunctions and conjunctive phrases to formulate coherent sentences in Italian.

Use of Conjunctions in Sentence Structure

• Conjunctions help establish relations between different parts of a sentence. For instance, ma (but) signifies a contrast, e (and) signifies an addition, and perché (because) signifies a reason.
• Conjunctions can be used at the beginning or middle of a sentence. However, unlike English, Italian rarely uses conjunctions at the end of a sentence.

Position of Subordinating Conjunctions

• When a subordinating conjunction is used, the verb often goes to the end of the clause. For example, Il cane corre quando lo vedo (The dog runs when it sees me).
• Understanding this rule is essential for grammatically correct sentence structure in Italian.

Rules for Punctuation with Conjunctions

• Unlike in English, Italian commonly uses a comma before the conjunction in a compound sentence. For example, Mi piace il gelato, e mi piace la pizza (I like ice cream, and I like pizza).
• It is important to remember this rule to accurately punctuate sentences in Italian.