Conjunction
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Towards more picturesque speech™
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A conjunction is a word that connects dependent clauses or sentences: compare with prepositions, which put phrases and nouns in relation to each other. Conjunctions tend to be simple, easy words that you’ll instantly recognise: and; or; but; if. The mediocre lawyer’s job is to convert these into more complicated words or, where possible, conjunctival phrases that, unless you are practised in the turgid literature of business dialect, you won’t.
Converting conjunctions to conjunctival phrases
- The classic example is “if”. You can convert this into the pompous expression “in the event that”.
- “And” you might re-render as “together with” or “in addition to”.
- “But” you can effortlessly translate into “however”, “nevertheless”, “in spite of” or — for a real flourish — “notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the foregoing”.
- “Because” could be inflated to “as a consequence of”.
See also
Plain English Anatomy™ Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Latin | Germany | Flannel | Legal triplicate | Nominalisation | Murder your darlings