This is a coupling device found on the front of an AMTrak engine parked at the Thompson Point train station on outer Congress Street. Let's pull out our dusty English grammar books this morning. Ah, the conjunction. The lonely conjunction is the part of speech that conjoins phrases, clauses, words or simple sentences. And by the way, there is no historical evidence that beginning sentences with these little connecting words (and, but, so etc) is wrong. Hey, have I ever told you about the time we found a small wheelbase of a train workcar off the track down back? Well, we did and we got boards out and made a floor for it, and for the next month or so we had transportation to the great fort we built down back, behind the cemetery. There were work tracks back there but with no trains. Someday, I'll tell that tale. Today, conjunctions... tomorrow, maybe we'll delve further into the role of the coordinating, correlative and subordinating conjunctions.Monday, February 27, 2012
Conjunction
This is a coupling device found on the front of an AMTrak engine parked at the Thompson Point train station on outer Congress Street. Let's pull out our dusty English grammar books this morning. Ah, the conjunction. The lonely conjunction is the part of speech that conjoins phrases, clauses, words or simple sentences. And by the way, there is no historical evidence that beginning sentences with these little connecting words (and, but, so etc) is wrong. Hey, have I ever told you about the time we found a small wheelbase of a train workcar off the track down back? Well, we did and we got boards out and made a floor for it, and for the next month or so we had transportation to the great fort we built down back, behind the cemetery. There were work tracks back there but with no trains. Someday, I'll tell that tale. Today, conjunctions... tomorrow, maybe we'll delve further into the role of the coordinating, correlative and subordinating conjunctions.
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merci pour le cour de grammaire, mais j'avoue que j'ai beaucoup de mal a suivre en Anglais ;)
ReplyDeleteThis brings back memories of my very short career as a train guard.
ReplyDeleteso i thought you had this coupling thing down to an art...and i was right. and have you noticed how many people begin their sentences with "so" these days?
ReplyDeleteAnd, I think that any good writer will be able to ignore the rigid conjunction rule. But, who knows...some people are cowed by rules.
ReplyDeleteIt gave a good subject to photography!
ReplyDeleteLéia
(glad your train tracks were not actively used by trains at the time!)
ReplyDeleteCoupling devices, conjunctions, and trains...that is a lot to take in so early in the morning.
ReplyDeleteThat might be the most innovative illustration for a grammar lesson that I've seen . . .
ReplyDeleteInteresting info. But, I really like flowing words rather than the old standard regulations about sentence construction. I feel our language needs a bit of updating (unless you are writing a legal brief). -- barbara
ReplyDeleteAnd what would you have done if a train roared down the tracks because work tracks suddenly had a train on them...maybe just the little engine that could?
ReplyDeleteCoupling I think is nice. Conjunctions - I can live with 'em but don't care much one way or another...
:-)
I like the way you offer a visualpicture of a conjunction..:)
ReplyDeleteIt's a hell of a lot to take in this late at night too!
ReplyDeleteBirdman, could you email me please? Thanks!
Makes me think of some School House Rock...conjunction, junction...what's your function?
ReplyDeleteMrs. O'Connell, my sophomore English teacher, would be proud of you.
ReplyDeleteWonderful story!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to follow up with dangling participles, subject-verb number agreement, antecedents of pronouns and why half the English speaking world is so stupid it uses apostrophe-s for plurals instead of limiting them to possessives, where they belong.
ReplyDelete