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 To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/