Connectors and an introduction to complex meaning

• Relatedness – just showing that two statements are related (you can do this with 'and' and some kinds of punctuation, like semicolons).
• Time – for example 'as', 'when', 'then', 'before', 'until', and many others.
• Manner – 'like', 'as if' and 'how' show the manner in which something is done by comparing it to another event.
• Concession – connectors like 'but', 'yet' and 'even though' show when two statements are somehow in opposition.
• Cause and effect – connectors like 'so', 'because', 'as' and 'therefore' show causal relationships.
• Conditions – 'if', 'unless' and 'otherwise' show that one thing is the condition of another happening.

Can you think of other kinds of relationships you can make with connectors? (For example, we left logical relationships, which are created by 'and', 'or' and 'not', out of this lesson.)

• Carrying the actor (and verb helpers) through.
• Using punctuation as connectors.
• Putting a full stop in front of a connector to create emphasis, voicing, or just control flow and readability.

Here are the snippets from the previous page again, just as a reference for what some of this looks like in practice.
 

At first the artisans were too shy to look Ma in the eye. But as he sat and interacted with them, they grew to trust him and soon began singing songs from home as Ma accompanied them on cello.

Mom and Dad had no money for braces, of course—none of us kids had ever even been to the dentist—but since I'd been babysitting and doing other kids' homework for cash, I resolved to save up until I could afford braces myself.