Spanish 4.3. Conjunctions

Conjunctions are important components in Spanish as they allow the speaker to join sentences and convey useful meanings.

Most Common Conjunctions in Spanish

Conjunction	Meaning	Example
y	and	Me gusta la primavera y el verano. I like spring and summer.
o	or	Voy a tomar café o té. I am going to drink tea or coffee.
si	if	Si estoy cansado, no voy a salir. If I am tired, I won’t go out.
pero mas sino	but	Quiero dormir pero no puedo. I want to sleep, but I can’t. Yo trabajo, mas no tengo dinero. I work, but I have no money. No voy el sábado sino el domingo. I won’t go on Saturday, but rather on Sunday.
según	according to	Según los médicos, el café no es malo. According to the doctors, coffee is not bad.
excepto salvo	except	Voy al gimnasio todos los días excepto los viernes. I go to the gym every day except Friday.
entonces	then	Bueno, entonces te voy a esperar. Okay, then I will wait for you.
sin embargo	however	Estoy cansado. Sin embargo, puedo salir contigo. I am tired. However, I can go out with you.
no obstante	nevertheless	El clima es seco; no obstante, a veces llueve. The climate is dry. Nevertheless, sometimes it rains.
para que a fin de que	so that in order to	Resumiré el libro para que puedas entenderlo. Resumiré el libro a fin de que puedas entenderlo. I will summarize the book so that you can understand it.
porque	because	Estudio español porque quiero vivir en México. I study Spanish because I want to live in Mexico.
a causa de	because of	No podemos salir a causa de la nieve. We can’t go out because of the snow.
en vez de en lugar de	instead	En vez de salir hoy, vamos a ver una película. Instead of going out tonight, we’ll watch a movie.
pues puesto que ya que	since because for	Voy al café, pues tengo bastante tiempo libre. Voy al café, puesto que tengo bastante tiempo libre. Voy al café, ya que tengo bastante tiempo libre. I’ll go to the coffee shop since I have enough free time.
dado que	given that	Es un momento importante, dado que el ganador se lo lleva todo. This is an important moment, given that winner takes all.
por lo tanto	therefore	Era tarde; por lo tanto, no salimos anoche. It was late; therefore, we didn’t go out last night.
de lo contrario	otherwise	Espero que no llueva; de lo contrario, no salimos. I hope it doesn’t rain; otherwise, we don’t go out.
aunque	although even if	Entiendo lo que dijo, aunque no puedo explicarlo. I understand what he said, although I can’t explain it.
a pesar de	in spite of despite	A pesar de ser bajo, es un muy buen jugador. Despite being short, he is a very good player.
como	as since	Como hace frío, voy a llevar mi abrigo. As it is cold, I will wear my coat.
así que	so	Es difícil decidir, así que hay que pensarlo. It is difficult to decide, so one must think about it.
es decir	in other words that is	Hablo inglés y español, es decir, soy bilingüe. I speak English and Spanish, in other words, I’m bilingual.
siempre que con tal (de) que	provided that as long as	Te ayudaré siempre que lo necesites. Te ayudaré con tal de que lo necesites. I will help you as long as you need it.
mientras (que)	while as long as	Compremos algo mientras estamos aquí. Let’s buy something while we are here.
o … o … ya sea … o …	either… or…	Bueno, o nos vamos ahora o más tarde. Bueno,nos vamos ya sea ahora o más tarde. Okay, we either leave now or later.
ni … ni …	neither … nor …	Mi italiano no es ni bueno ni malo. My Italian is neither good nor bad.
además de	besides	Además de la comida, pediré bebidas también. Besides food, I will order drinks too.
aparte de	apart from	Aparte del clima, no me gusta este lugar. Apart from the weather, I don’t like this place.
a diferencia de	unlike	A diferencia de usted, no sé alemán. Unlike you, I don’t know German.

When “y” (and) or “o” (or) is followed by a Vowel

If the word following “y” (and) starts with an “i” or has the “ee” sound, e.g., “hijo”(son) at the beginning of the word, the “y” is replaced with “e,” e.g., “español e inglés” (Spanish and English), “hijos e hijas” (sons and daughters), etc.

An exception to this rule is if the word starts with a diphthong, such as “ie” or “io” sounds, e.g., “agua y hielo” (water and ice).

If the word following “o” (or) starts with an “o” or has the “o” sound (e.g., “hogar”) at the beginning of the word, the “o” is replaced with “u,” e.g., “siete u ocho” (seven or eight), “ayer u hoy” (yesterday or today).

The Conjunctions “Pero,” “Mas,” and “Sino” all meaning “But”

The conjunctions “pero,” “mas,” and “sino” in Spanish can all mean “but.” However, “pero” is the one you will encounter the most in daily life. The word “mas” is considered formal and is used more in written Spanish. Finally, the word “sino” is used to mean “but” or “but rather” when the first part of the sentence is negative, e.g., “No es invierno sino verano” (It is not winter but summer).

“Para que” vs. “A fin de que”

Both “para que” and “a fin de que” mean “so that” or “in order to.”

However, “para que” is more commonly used, while “a fin de que” is considered more formal.

Conjunctions that use the Subjunctive Mood in Spanish

The conjunctions “para que,” “a fin de que,” “siempre que,” “con tal (de) que,” and “mientras que” are usually followed by the subjunctive mood as explained in Level IV, Lesson 7 and Level V, Lesson 5.

The conjunction “aunque” means “although” or “even though” if followed by indicative mood, and means “even if” if followed by subjunctive mood. More on this is covered in Level VI, Lesson 5.

Next: Reflexive Pronouns & Verbs

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