Spanish Coordinating Conjunction
See also: Conjunción and Conjunction types
Coordinating conjunctions (conjunciones de coordinación) are words that link words, phrases, or independent clauses to show an equal relationship between them.
For example
- ¿Quieres un café o un té? Do you want coffee or tea?
- A Juan le gusta el fútbol y a María le gusta el rugby. Juan likes football and María likes rugby.
There are five types of Spanish coordinating conjunctions:
1. Copulativas (copulatives) --> y, ni
No tengo ni tiempo ni dinero.
I have neither time nor money.
I have neither time nor money.
2. Disyuntivas (disjunctives) --> o, u
¿Estudias o trabajas?
Do you study or work?
Do you study or work?
3. Adversativas (adversatives) --> pero, aunque, sin embargo, mas, sino, no obstante, al contrario
No era una bebida caliente, sino fría.
It wasn't a hot drink, but a cold one.
It wasn't a hot drink, but a cold one.
4. Explicativas (explicatives) --> es decir, mejor dicho, es más, o sea, esto es, mejor dicho
La situación no ha cambiado o mejor dicho no ha mejorado.
The situation hasn't changed, or rather, it hasn't improved.
The situation hasn't changed, or rather, it hasn't improved.
5. Distributivas (distributives) --> ya...ya, bien...bien, unas...otras, ora...ora, sea...sea
Unas veces está contenta, otras veces se desespera.
Sometimes she is happy, other times she despairs.
Sometimes she is happy, other times she despairs.