What relationship is it showing? connectives

What is a connective question?

Your child is given a sentence with a gap between two ideas, and a choice of words to fill it.

Several of the options will fit grammatically, and each makes the sentence say something different. Only one shows the relationship the passage calls for, which is why this is a question about meaning wearing grammar's clothes.

That relationship comes from somewhere: the sentences around the gap, or the question itself. A sentence on its own can often be read more than one way. The hall was crowded and Bilal spoke confidently is a perfectly good sentence; it reports two facts side by side. Swap in but and it becomes a sentence about confidence in spite of the crowd. Neither is wrong as English. The question is which one the writer means.

Name the relationship first

Before looking at the options at all, ask what the two halves are doing to each other. There are four common answers.

Naming the relationship usually removes most of the options in a second, and it stops the commonest error, which is choosing a word that sounds comfortable and says something the passage never claimed.

The diagram shows the simplest case, where the question names the relationship itself: it asks for a contrast, so the choice is made before the options are read.

Can you show me a worked example?

Which kind decides the sentence type

There is a second thing these words do, and questions sometimes ask about it instead.

Coordinating connectives — and, but, or — join things of equal weight. Those can be single words (salt and pepper) or phrases (over the wall or through the gate), and a sentence stays simple when that is all they join. When one joins two clauses that could each stand alone, it makes a compound sentence.

Subordinating connectives — although, because, until, while, if — introduce a clause that could not stand alone. That makes a complex sentence. Some of these words have other jobs too — in until Friday there is no clause after until — so check what follows the word in the sentence in front of you.

So the engine failed but Nadia repaired it is compound, and although the engine failed, Nadia repaired it is complex. Both show contrast; they build different sentences.

Where do pupils lose marks?

Choosing by sound, which produces a sentence that reads well and means something else.

Reversing cause and effect. Ola kept practising because her fingers ached makes the aching the reason for carrying on, which is rarely what is meant, and it is an easy slip when reading quickly.

Ignoring what the connective does to the sentence type, when that is what the question was really asking.

Try it yourself

Each question names the relationship to show. Several of the words would make a grammatical sentence; only one shows that relationship.

1. Choose the word that shows a contrast. The hall was crowded ___ Bilal spoke confidently. (and / but / because)
2. Choose the word that shows the order in time. We packed the car ___ the rain started. (before / although / so)
3. Choose the word that shows when the practising stopped. Ola kept practising ___ her fingers ached. (until / because / or)
4. Choose the word that shows cause and effect. The engine had failed, ___ Nadia repaired it. (so / although / until)
5. The hall was crowded ___ Bilal spoke confidently. Which of these words would make that sentence complex rather than compound: and, but, although?

Show Answers

How much practice does this type need at home?

Two sentences, three joins. Give your child a pair of short sentences and ask them to connect them with and, then but, then although — and after each one, ask what changed.

It takes a minute and it makes the point better than any explanation: the connective is not glue. It is carrying an argument, and choosing the wrong one changes what the sentence says.