Frequently Used Conjunctions in Spanish (pt. 1) – Lesson 35

What are conjunctions?

Today’s purple grammar lesson is about conjunctions. Sounds complicated? It isn’t. Conjunctions are simply connector words: little words that link words and sentence parts together. In English, think of and, but, or and because.

That pero (but) connects two parts into one sentence. That’s a conjunction. I split this topic into two parts, and today we’ll learn 12 of the most common ones. You’ll hear these all the time, so learn them by heart.

Y: and

One letter, one of the most-used words in Spanish. It sounds like the English “ee”.

O: or

Again, just one letter. And remember: every Spanish vowel has only one sound, so it’s a short, clean “o”, not “oh-oo” like in English.

Pero: but

Quiero from querer, ir from lesson 33 and puedo from poder: you know every word in this sentence!

Si: if

No tilde: si = if, sí = yes. Remember lesson 27?

Let’s break this sentence down: podemos (we can) + ir (to go) + si (if) + quieres (you want). This is a really useful skill: when you see a long sentence, don’t try to understand it all at once. Break it into small pieces. The words you know will often help you guess the ones you don’t.

Como: like, as, since

Como can mean like, as or since, depending on the sentence. Without a tilde, because it’s not the question word ¿cómo? (how?).

Sin embargo: however

Llovió (it rained) and nos divertimos (we had fun) are in the past tense. Don’t worry about those yet: just focus on sin embargo.

Otra vez and de nuevo: again

Otra vez literally means “another time” (otra = another, vez = time). De nuevo literally means “of new”. Both just mean again, and you can use either one.

Let’s break down intentarlo: intentar means to try (careful: not “to intend”!), and the -lo at the end means “it”. So intentarlo = to try it. And vamos a… is “let’s…” or “we’re going to…”, from ir.

Así que: so, therefore

Notice “it’s hot” is hace calor, literally “it makes heat”. Spanish uses hacer (to make) for the weather. And as we learned in the restaurant lesson, that’s different from caliente for hot food.

Tanto … como: as much … as

You put something between tanto and como. It can also mean “both … and”: tanto en España como en México = both in Spain and in Mexico.

Ni … ni: neither … nor

Notice the extra no at the start. In English that would be a double negative, but in Spanish it’s completely normal: no tengo ni… ni…

Porque: because

Careful: porque (because) is one word, no tilde. ¿Por qué? (why?) is two words, with a tilde, like we saw in lesson 21.

And did you notice no tengo hambre? Literally “I don’t have hunger”. Like we learned with tener, Spanish says you have hunger, where English says you are hungry.

Recap: conjunctions (part 1)

Spanish	English
y	and
o	or
pero	but
si	if
como	like / as / since
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■
■■■■■■■■	■■■■■■■■

+ 6 more words & phrases

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Practice: conjunctions

Fill in the right connector word. Say it out loud, then click to check.

1. Quiero pizza ___ helado. (and)

Quiero pizza y helado.

2. ¿Quieres café ___ té? (or)

¿Quieres café o té?

3. Quiero ir, ___ no puedo. (but)

Quiero ir, pero no puedo.

4. Podemos ir ___ quieres. (if)

Podemos ir si quieres.

5. Hace calor, ___ vamos a la playa. (so)

Hace calor, así que vamos a la playa.

6. No tengo ___ dinero ___ tiempo. (neither … nor)

No tengo ni dinero ni tiempo.

7. No voy a comer ___ no tengo hambre. (because)

No voy a comer porque no tengo hambre.

8. Say “Let’s try it again” in two ways.

Vamos a intentarlo otra vez. / Vamos a intentarlo de nuevo.

Quiz: conjunctions (part 1)

10 questions. Break them down, piece by piece!

Frequently asked questions

Are “otra vez” and “de nuevo” really conjunctions?

Strictly speaking, they’re adverbs (like “again” in English). But they’re used so often to connect ideas that they fit nicely in this list. The important thing is that you know them!

Why is “y” pronounced like “ee”?

When y stands on its own as “and”, it’s pronounced like the Spanish i: “ee”. Inside other words, like yo or playa, it sounds more like the English y.

Before you go to the next lesson

These connector words will make your Spanish sound way more natural, because you can finally build longer sentences. Learn them by heart, and grab the free reference sheet below. Part 2 is coming later in the course. ¡Hasta luego!