How to Teach Conjunctions: Engaging Games and Activities for ESL Students

21.05.2026

10 minutes

Activities
Tips & Strategies
Methodology

Conjunctions are one more essential part of English language learning, which cannot be omitted, and play a crucial role in the form and meaning. What are these? Conjunctions are small but essential words that connect ideas.

For ESL learners, they help to make speech and writing more natural, fluent, and logical.

To understand their purpose and importance, it suffices to say that a conjunction links words, phrases, or clauses. Instead of speaking in short, simple sentences, students can combine ideas into longer, clearer ones.

There are three main types of conjunctions: coordinating, subordinating, and correlative.

Each type serves a different purpose and follows its own patterns; that’s why talking about each of them in great detail is needed for understanding, as well.

What ESL Students Need to Know About Conjunctions?

Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions connect equal ideas. This means that both parts of the sentence can stand alone as complete sentences.

The most common coordinating conjunctions are:

for,
and,
nor,
but,
or,
yet,
so.

Each of these has a specific function.

“And” is used to add information, while “but” and “yet” introduce contrast. “Or” presents a choice, and “so” shows a result. “For” gives a reason, although it is more formal and less common in everyday speech, and “nor” is used to continue a negative idea.

These conjunctions can also be remembered with the word or a so-called acronym FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

One important rule with coordinating conjunctions is punctuation. When joining two full sentences, a comma is usually placed before the conjunction.

For example, “I was tired, so I went to bed,” or “I wanted to go out, but it was raining.”

However, when connecting only words or short phrases, no comma is needed, as in “I like apples and bananas,” or “He came in and started to speak.”

A common mistake among ESL learners is confusing conjunctions with similar meanings, especially “but” and “so,” which express very different relationships. The importance and deep understanding stem from it.

Especially, learners might get confused comparing the same conjunctions to those in their native language, copying the same style and punctuation, although it doesn’t work in the same way.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions, in contrast, connect ideas that are not equal. One clause is the main one, and the other is dependent, meaning it cannot stand alone. These conjunctions help to express relationships such as reason, time, condition, contrast, and purpose.

Common examples include:

because,
when,
if,
although,
unless.

For instance, in the sentence “I stayed home because I was sick,” the main idea is “I stayed home,” while the reason is introduced by “because.” Subordinating conjunctions are flexible in terms of word order.

Mentioning punctuation, it is worth mentioning that the dependent clause can come at the beginning or the end of the sentence.

When it comes first, it is usually followed by a comma, as in “Because I was tired, I went to bed,” or “Although it was cold, we went for a walk.”

When it comes second, no comma is needed. Learners often make the mistake of using both “because” and “so” in the same sentence, even though only one is needed to express cause and result.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are slightly different because they work in pairs. They connect equal elements in a sentence and require careful attention to structure.

Common pairs include:

both … and,
either … or,
neither … nor,
not only … but also.

These structures are used to link words, phrases, or clauses that have the same grammatical form. For instance, “She likes both reading and writing” is correct because both elements are in the same form (homogeneous objects).

Maintaining this parallel structure is essential.

A sentence like “She likes both reading and to write” is incorrect because the forms do not match. More complex structures, such as “Not only did she pass the exam, but she also got the highest score,” show how correlative conjunctions can add emphasis and sophistication to a sentence.

Building from Simple to Complex

In learning conjunctions overall and all three types, students benefit as a whole from moving step by step.

They can begin by joining simple sentences with coordinating conjunctions, then explore how subordinating conjunctions express different relationships, and finally practise the more structured patterns of correlative conjunctions.

With consistent practice, conjunctions become a powerful tool that allows learners to express ideas clearly and naturally.

As in every other topic, a key point for ESL students is sentence structure. With coordinating conjunctions, we often use a comma before the conjunction when joining two full sentences.

With subordinating conjunctions, the word order can change depending on which clause comes first.

Common mistakes include using too many conjunctions in one sentence, confusing similar ones like “because” and “so”, or forgetting word order in complex sentences.

Here are some games and activities to boost the students’ knowledge and practice a lot, so that they are fully aware of using all the types of conjunctions.

Fun Conjunction Games for Young Learners

In spite of being difficult, the teacher can make a funny activity out of the exercise, particularly for the youngest ones.

What’s possible to do?

Teaching conjunctions to young learners works best when movement, visuals, and simple challenges are involved together.

Games allow children to experiment with language naturally, without overthinking grammar rules. Here are three engaging activities that make conjunctions memorable and fun.

Conjunction Train

In this activity, students build a “sentence train” by connecting ideas.

Start by giving each student or group a simple sentence written on a card, for example, “I like apples” or “She is tired.”

Then, the teacher introduces a set of conjunction cards such as “and,” “but,” and “so.”

One student reads their sentence, and another student adds a second sentence using a conjunction to connect them.

For example, “I like apples, and I like bananas.” Each new sentence becomes another “car” in the train. The goal is to keep the train going as long as possible without breaking the logic of the sentence.

“I like apples, and I like bananas, but oranges are not tasty, and my mum didn’t buy them, so we bought apples and bananas…”

This game helps learners understand how conjunctions link ideas and encourages them to listen carefully to the meaning. You can make it more active by having students physically stand in a line, each holding part of the sentence.

The FANBOYS Relay Race

This is a high-energy team game focused on the seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

The teacher can divide the class into teams and write simple sentence pairs on the board, such as “It was raining. We went outside.” Then, place conjunction cards at the front of the room.

One student from each team runs to choose the correct conjunction, then returns and completes the sentence orally or on the board: “It was raining, but we went outside.”

This activity can be done in both modes, so if it should be with some real physical activity to switch young learners a little bit and make learning entertaining, this is possible.

The exercise can be done with a timer, not for choosing the fastest players, but for creating an atmosphere of thinking and making decisions fast.

Teams earn points for correct answers. To increase even more difficulty, include trickier pairs where more than one conjunction seems possible and students must explain their choice.

This game reinforces meaning differences between conjunctions and adds excitement through movement and competition.

Color-Coded Connectors

This game uses colors to help students visually organise ideas. Assign a color to each type of conjunction or function.

For example, green for “and” (adding information), red for “but” (contrast), and blue for “so” (result).

Give students strips of paper in different colors and ask them to write short clauses or ideas on each strip. Then, they combine them using matching color conjunctions.

For example, a green strip might connect two similar ideas, while a red strip signals a contrast, and a blue one–the result.

Students can then present their sentences to the class, explaining why they chose a particular color. This activity is especially helpful for visual learners and strengthens understanding of how conjunctions express relationships between ideas.

Practical Conjunction Activities for Teens and Adults

Regarding teenagers and adults, there is a wide range of activities to try and expand knowledge. How to do that?

The ""But/However"" Debate

This activity helps students to understand the difference between coordinating conjunctions like “but” and conjunctive adverbs like “however,” especially in formal versus informal contexts.

Begin by presenting a simple statement, for example: “Online learning is effective.” Then, the teacher divides the class into two groups. One group must respond using “but,” and the other–using “however.” Students take turns adding contrasting ideas.

For example, one student might say, “Online learning is effective, but it can be isolating.” Another might respond, “Online learning is effective. However, it requires strong self-discipline.” As the activity continues, students build a chain of arguments, each adding a new contrasting point.

After several rounds, discuss the differences. It is crucial to highlight that “but” is more common in everyday speech and joins clauses within one sentence, while “however” is more formal and often used to connect ideas across sentences, especially in writing.

This activity encourages critical thinking as well as precise language use.

Sentence Expansion Challenge

In this activity, students practise building more complex sentences step by step. Start with a very simple sentence, such as “The student finished the task.” Then, ask students to expand it by adding information using different types of conjunctions.

For instance, a student might say, “The student finished the task and submitted it online.” Another could extend it further: “The student finished the task and submitted it online because the deadline was approaching.”

The sentence can continue to grow with additional clauses: “Although the task was difficult, the student finished it and submitted it online because the deadline was approaching.”

You can turn this into a group challenge where each student must add one element using a specific conjunction. This activity helps learners to see how conjunctions allow them to layer ideas, express relationships, and create more sophisticated sentences without losing clarity.

What is more, this is a great activity to practice speaking your mind and building extended sentences for writing tasks. More about that is in the next task.

Cohesion in Academic Writing

This activity focuses on how conjunctions contribute to cohesion in more formal, academic-style writing. Provide students with a short paragraph that lacks connectors, for example, a series of simple sentences: “The experiment was successful. The results were unexpected. The researchers continued their work.”

Students work individually or in pairs to improve the paragraph by adding appropriate conjunctions and linking devices. For example: “The experiment was successful, but the results were unexpected, so the researchers continued their work.”

Such a bombardment with conjunctions is a real brainstorm. After rewriting, students compare their versions and discuss why they chose certain conjunctions.

The teacher can extend the task by introducing a wider range of connectors, such as “therefore,” “moreover,” “in contrast,” and “as a result,” and asking students to consider tone and formality.

This activity helps learners to have an understanding of basic sentence linking and develop a sense of flow and coherence, which is essential for essays, reports, proposals, letters, and other academic tasks.

3 Proven Steps: How to Teach Conjunctions Effectively

Step 1: Meaning and Function

Effective teaching of conjunctions should begin with meaning, not rules. Students need to understand what conjunctions do before they focus on how they are formed.

At this stage, the goal is to build intuitive awareness of relationships between ideas:

addition,
contrast,
reason,
result,
condition,
time.

The teacher can introduce conjunctions through simple contexts. Instead of presenting lists, it is more effective to show pairs of sentences and ask students how they are connected.

For example, “It was raining. We stayed inside.” naturally leads to “so,” while “It was raining. We went outside.” suggests “but.”

Hence, this approach encourages learners to think in terms of logic rather than memorisation. As for visual aids, timelines, and real-life examples, they help reinforce meaning.

Here, accuracy is less important than understanding, so students really practise to feel it sometimes or guess with their gut feeling.

Actually, it is about knowledge, too, but subconsciously.

Step 2: Form and Punctuation

After meaning and function, it’s time to go to form and punctuation. This shift includes sentence structure, word order, and punctuation patterns. Learners need to see how conjunctions work within a sentence and how different types are different.

For coordinating conjunctions, the focus is on joining equal parts and using commas correctly when linking two independent clauses.
For subordinating conjunctions, students learn how clause order can change and how punctuation depends on position.

Correlative conjunctions require particular attention to parallel structure, as both parts of the pair must match grammatically. Clear models and guided practice are essential at this stage.

Sentence transformation exercises, matching tasks, and error correction activities help students notice patterns and build control to reduce common mistakes and incorrect usage.

Step 3: Controlled to Free Practice

The final step is to move from controlled practice to a freer one. Students first practise in structured tasks, where the choice of conjunction is limited or guided.

This might include gap-fill exercises, sentence matching, or combining short sentences using a specific connector.

Gradually, tasks become less controlled, shifting to semi-controlled. Students begin to choose conjunctions based on meaning rather than instruction.

Activities such as sentence expansion, paragraph writing, and speaking tasks encourage them to use conjunctions creatively and appropriately.

At the most advanced stage, learners focus on cohesion and style. They learn to vary their connectors, avoid repetition, and select more formal or nuanced options depending on context.

Peer feedback and revision tasks are especially useful here, as they help students reflect on clarity and flow.

To sum up, taking into consideration all the steps mentioned above, it is much easier to set the ball rolling in the world of conjunctions and their understanding.

Along with the teacher, top-notch explanations, and tremendous students’ work, it proves that practice makes a habit.