9.6 Introduction to Conjunctions for Connecting Clauses

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In grammar, the term clause refers to a group of words that contains a subject and a verb, and sometimes an object. A clause as a whole expresses an idea. A sentence may consist of one single clause or multiple clauses.

We can use conjunctions to connect two or more clauses in a sentence and express different meaning relationships between ideas, such as contrast and causal relationship. In Cantonese, a conjunction for connecting clauses can appear as an individual word or a pair of words in a sentence.

Clause 1Clause 2
Idea 1ConjunctionIdea 2
我喺香港住過，但係我唔識廣東話。
ngo5 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 zyu6 gwo3,daan6 hai6ngo5 m4 sik1 gwong2 dung1 waa2.
I lived in Hong Kong beforebutI don’t know Cantonese
I lived in Hong Kong before, but I don’t know Cantonese.
但係 daan6 hai6 (‘but’) is put at the beginning of the second clause.
Clause 1Clause 2
ConjunctionIdea 1ConjunctionIdea 2
因為我喺香港住過，所以我識少少廣東話。
jan1 wai6ngo5 hai2 hoeng1 gong2 zyu6 gwo3,so2 ji5ngo5 sik1 siu2 siu2 gwong2 dung1 waa2.
becauseI lived in Hong Kong beforesoI know a little bit Cantonese
I lived in Hong Kong before so I know a little bit Cantonese.
因為 jan1 wai6 (‘because’) is put at the beginning of the first clause, and 所以 so2 ji5 (‘so’) is put at the beginning of the second clause.