Conjunctions for time and cause
English · Key Stage 2 · The School
Beyond and and but
"And" just adds one thing to another. "But" just shows a contrast. Other conjunctions do more precise jobs: "because" and "so" show CAUSE. "Before", "after" and "while" show TIME. Choosing the right one tells the reader exactly how two ideas connect, rather than leaving them to guess at the missing link.
Showing cause
"It rained, SO the match was cancelled." "The match was cancelled BECAUSE it rained." Both sentences say the same thing, in a different order, using a different cause-conjunction. Either way, the reader knows exactly why the match was cancelled, not just that two things happened around the same time.
Showing time
"BEFORE we left, I packed my bag." "AFTER we left, it started raining." "WHILE we walked, we talked." Each conjunction places one event precisely against another in time. Without it, a reader has to guess the order for themselves, working it out from context rather than being told directly by the sentence itself.
Start with three sentences joined only by "and": "I finished my homework and I watched television and it got dark." Vague — did the homework cause the TV time, or just happen near it? Rewrite with precise conjunctions: "AFTER I finished my homework, I watched television, BECAUSE I had earned a break, and BY THE TIME it got dark, the programme had ended." The events are the same. The precise conjunctions tell the reader exactly how they connect — not just that they all happened, but why they happened in that order, one after the other.