Correlative Conjunctions: Words in Pairs

By Jonah Charney-Sirott, Writing Consultant

Some words travel as pairs. Where we use one, we must use the other. Take the word both, for example.

When two subjects are considered together, most of us use the word both to discuss the items as a group. Though we all think we know how to use this easy four-letter word, there are a whole lot of rules governing its usage, and a whole lot of us don’t always follow them. Let’s start with a little background:

Both is a correlative conjunction, a fancy way of saying that it’s part of a select group of words in the English language that must always go in a pair. In the case of both, our sister word is and. Think of these two words as a team. If you use both, you have to play her teammate and as well, or else you’ve got a problem.

Take, for example, this sentence: Both a dog as well as a cat would make a great pet for my grandmother.

The problem here is that only one member of the team is in the game, therefore making this sentence grammatically incorrect.

Usually it’s easy to spot a missing team member. Other correlative conjunctions include either/or and not only/but also.

Watch how both members of the team make an appearance in this sentence:

Next year, Ricky will either enroll in college or hike through India.

So remember, if you use a word from the big six correlative conjunction pairs (either/or, neither/nor, both/and, whether/or, not only/but also, just as/so) make sure to get both players in the game.

For more on word usage in academic writing, see our list of commonly confused words.

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