Conjuncts

We use conjuncts to help stick a text together (or, more technically, 'give it cohesion'). For example, in the middle of an argument you might come across a sentence that begins with the word Therefore:

At the moment publishers fear not so much the literary efforts of retiring politicians but those of MPs who have lost their seats. Many of these losses will be unexpected. Therefore the MPs in question are unlikely to have lined up lucrative jobs that preclude the hard slog of putting black upon white.

Therefore is a conjunct. It links the present sentence with what has gone before.

Other conjuncts are however, moreover and similarly.

©John Seely 2008