yup, whereas is a problem.  I am not even sure that it and thus should
be called conjunctive adverbs.  The conjunctive adverbs are moveable in
ways that the coordinating conjunctions are not--however, therefore,
moreover, nonetheless, etc. don't have to come between the independent
clauses.  But like the coordinate conjunctions, thus and whereas are not
moveable. One could look at thus as a kind of absolute adverb, I guess.
Maybe our lists are wrong!

> ----------
> From:         Jim Dubinsky[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Reply To:     Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
> Sent:         Tuesday, October 27, 1998 12:10 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Conjunctive Adverbs & Coordinating Conjunctions
>
> Hi.  I'm writing to get some feedback about the function of the word
> "whereas" and the oft-printed list of coordinating conjunctions.
>
> Background.  In my technical writing classes, I give 10 minute editing
> quizzes to encourage students to think about style and presentation.
> A
> question came up the other day when we discussed the following
> sentence:
>
> One benefit of running is that the number of red blood cells are
> increased,
> thus more oxygen can be carried per quart of blood.
>
> I used the sentence to illustrate two errors:  a subject-verb
> agreement
> ("number .  . . is" not "number. . . are") and a sentence boundary
> error
> ("thus" serving as a conjunctive adverb, which requires a semicolon
> before
> it).
>
> Students didn't argue about the first, but some wanted to argue that
> "thus"
> was not a conjunctive adverb; it functioned as a coordinating
> conjunction,
> requiring a comma, not a semicolon.
>
> In discussing this question with a colleague, we concluded that "thus"
> was
> indeed a conjunctive adverb.  As we continued the discussion, we began
> to
> wonder about coordinating conjunctions and the mnemonic BOYS FAN (But,
> Or,Yet, For, And, Nor, So).  We wondered where (or whether) words like
> "thus" and "whereas" fit.  "Whereas" caused us the most problem.
>
> In a sentence similar to the one I used--
>
> In the first case we have blah-blah, whereas in the second case we
> have
> yak-yak.
>
> we debated the function of "whereas."  Is it a coordinating
> conjunction?
> Or would it function as "thus" did in the example I used?  [we're
> leaning
> toward the former]
>
> Any thoughts or help on this question?
>
> Jim
>
>
> Jim Dubinsky
> Assistant Professor
> English Department
> Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
> Blacksburg, VA 24061-0112
>
> http://athena.english.vt.edu/~dubinsky
> [log in to unmask]            (540) 231-7909
>