Conjunctions in French grammar
- Coordinating Conjunctions
- Overview of the French coordinating conjunctions
- Subordinating conjunctions
- Online exercises to improve your French
- Lingolia Plus French
What are conjunctions?
Conjunctions (les conjunctions) are connecting words or linking words: they connect words, phrases and clauses to each other to form complete sentences. In French, word order doesn’t change when we do this. Coordinating conjunctions, such as et, ou, and mais join words, phrases or independent clauses together. Subordinating conjunctions, such as aprés que, bien que, or comme join an independent clause with a dependent or subordinate one.
Let Lingolia teach you everything you need to know about conjunctions in French grammar, then test out your knowledge in the free exercises.
Example

Christine est en vacances mais son mari est resté à la maison.
Elle passe ses vacances au bord de la mer du Nord parce qu'elle aime la mer.
Elle veut voir le coucher de soleil, c'est pourquoi elle est sur la plage.
Coordinating Conjunctions
The French coordinating conjunctions (les conjonctions de coordination) are carbecause, doncso, etand, maisbut, nineither, orbut, ouor. They connect two independent clauses or two nouns.
- Example:
- Christine est en vacances mais son mari est resté à la maison.Christine is on holiday but her husband stayed home.
There’s an easy trick to remember the French coordinating conjunctions, just ask yourself:
Mais où est donc Ornicar?
This little question contains all the coordinating conjunctions in one. But remember – don’t confuse the conjunction ou (or) with the adverb où (where), the accent makes all the difference! Likewise, don’t mix up the conjunction et with the 3rd person singular of être, est.
Overview of the French coordinating conjunctions
Coordinating Conjunction | Translation | Example |
---|---|---|
car | because | Les magasins sont fermés car aujourd’hui est un jour férié.The shops are closed today because it’s a bank holiday. |
donc | so | Le programme informatique ne fonctionnait pas parfaitement, j’ai donc appelé le service client.The IT programme wasn’t working perfectly, so I called the customer service. |
et | and | Nous avons invité Romain et Denise au restaurant.We’ve invited Romain and Denise to the restaurant. |
mais | but | Ce professeur est intéressant mais il ne parle pas assez fort.This teacher is interesting, but he doesn’t speak very loudly. |
ni … ni | neither … nor | Kévin n’aime ni les haricots, ni les épinards.Kevin likes neither green beans nor spinach. |
or | but | Mon patron a essayé de m’appeler cinq fois, or je lui ai bien spécifié que je ne serais pas joignable ce week-end.My boss tried to call me five times, but I told him I wouldn’t be available this weekend. |
ou | or | Nous pouvons tourner à gauche ou continuer tout droit.We can turn left or keep going straight ahead. |
Subordinating conjunctions
Subordinating conjunctions (les conjonctions de subordination) and conjunctional phrases (les locutions conjonctives) link an adverbial clause to a main clause. While coordinating conjunctions simply connect, subordinating conjunctions often offer more information relating to time, reason, purpose etc.
- There are many subordinating conjunctions in French grammar, such as que, comme, lorsque, quand, quoique, si, puisque etc.
- Example:
- Elle a pris cette décision lorsqu’elle a trouvé des billets bon marché.She made this decision when she found some cheap tickets.
- Common conjunctional phrases include afin que, parce que, avant que, bien que, dès que, pour que etc.
- Example:
- Elle passe ses vacances au bord de la mer du Nord parce qu’elle aime la mer.She spends her holidays at the coast because she loves the sea.
Overview of subordinating conjunctions and conjunctional phrases in French grammar
Function | Subordinating Conjunction | Indicatif or Subjonctif? | Example |
---|---|---|---|
direct object (noun clause) |
|
|
|
purpose (adverbial clause of purpose) |
|
|
|
reason (adverbial clause of reason) |
|
|
|
concession (adverbial clause of concession) |
|
|
|
condition (conditional clauses) |
|
|
|
result (adverbial clause of result) |
|
|
|
time (adverbial clause of time) |
|
|
|
opposition (opposing adverbial clause) |
|
|
|
Learn more
To learn more about the different conjunctions and French sentence structure, go to our pages dedicated to complex sentences, adverbial clauses and noun clauses.