Conjunctions o las conjunciones are linking words or connectors that connect two phrases, clauses, sentences or ideas. There are hundreds of conjunctions and we use them unconsciously all the time in everyday conversations. In the spanish language there are split conjunctions which means they’re made up of two words. Each part of the split conjunction introduces a sentence or a phrase. They’re also known as disjunctive and alternative conjunctions.
Similar to English language the most common and widely used split conjunctions are both...and, neither….nor. However, in the Spanish language there are a lot more.
Ni ... .ni is literally translated as neither ... .nor. It’s also considered a kind of additional conjunction. This type of conjunction used in pairs is called correlative conjunction. Even though both sentences or phrases linked by this conjunction seem to be used to exclude rather than include, they’re inclusive. When using ni...ni after a verb you simply use no before the main verb.
O...o means either...or. It’s an alternative conjunction since you need to choose between two options or alternatives. If you want to add more options, you simply add another o for each option you are adding. However, this is a little bit unusual in everyday conversations. You simply add commas between options and and o between the last two options.
Split conjunctions are known as alternative conjunctions since you have to decide between two options. In spanish there are several split conjunctions which aren’t in the english language. O bien...o bien which can roughly be translated as Or well...or well but is an alternative to the split conjunction O...o. Sea...sea is the conjugation of the verb to be in the second singular person.
