By the way, the fuzziness of the categories "conjunction" and "adverb"
becomes particularly clear when you consider all the "But, ..." and
"And, ...", where, in speech, the "but" or "and" would have clause
intonation. Of course, there is a proscription on beginning sentences
with conjunctions, a proscription that is a handy way for writing
teachers to eliminate one source of problems. But, there's nothing
intrinsically wrong with starting a sentence with a conjunction. So are
"but" and "and" in these usages conjunctions, adverbs, qualifiers,
conjunctive adverbs, ...?
Herb
________________________________
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Crow
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 9:05 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Conjunctive Adverbs
Peter,
Here's my take on it:
* They are adverbs in that they can move about within their
clauses without requiring any alteration to the existing structure.
* They are conjunctions in that they indicate a relationship
between the clause in which they occur and another clause, usually
preceding it.
To use one of your example sentences:
Ed believes in innate knowledge, and Phil, therefore, agrees with him.
* The word "and" is a conjunction signaling a plus relationship to
the previous clause. It is not, however adverbial: it cannot be moved.
* The word "therefore" is also a conjunction signaling a cause /
effect relationship to the previous clause. It differs from "and" (and
other coordinate or subordinate conjunctions) in that it is movable, so
it's called adverbial.
I agree with Geoff, however: it's a term that I do not use with my
students because it is so meaningless to them.
John
On 9/10/06, Peter Adams <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Everyone seems to agree, even Martha Kolln and the Cambridge Grammar,
that conjunctive adverbs are, indeed, conjunctions. I still don't see
why they are not just considered adverbs. Does anyone see it my way?
Peter Adams
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