In a sense, all words are linkers (see below for ‘more complicated’ stuff), but there is also a group of words whose main job is to link other words together.
Some of them link items together in Time (before, after . . .), Logic (because, although . . .) and more. We have called them conjunctions, although they are now more commonly called coordinators and subordinators, and the word linkers is often used as an umbrella word for both. Some of these words can also be used as prepositions, linking nouns together.
Today I’m looking at two pairs, both related to Time: before / after, and when / while.
Before and after
Here’s a simple example:
“No Billy, you shower before you get dressed, not after you
get dressed!!”
Billy is not the sharpest tool in the box, but I think the example is
clear.
Two more examples:
You should clean your teeth before you go to bed.
You should also clean your teeth after you have had breakfast.
Before and after can also be used as prepositions, but that’s not what’s happening here.
When and while
Here is an example of when:
One event interrupts the other:
He was asleep when the phone rang.
Two more examples:
Susan had already left when I got home.
She smiled when she saw Pete crossing the road.
And here is an example of while:
Two events go on at the same time:
The robber robbed their home while they were on holiday.
Two more examples:
We watched TV while we had lunch.
I read the paper while my partner finished her work.
I have a video on these four words.
Notes on the ‘more complicated’ stuff
Linking together
Words only mean something when they link together with other words; alone, a word doesn’t do much. What does a word like table or book mean? Is it a dining table, a table of results in a book, tabling a motion in a debate?And is book something we read? A record of bets placed on a horse? Or is it reserving a room, or a seat at a theatre? Or recording a person’s offence in a police station?
Once we link words together into sentences, they mean something. Alone, they are subject to multiple interpretations (but see below, Ellipsis).
So, in one sense, all words have a role as linkers, because they link together with other words, whether expressed or understood. But there are also some words whose main job is to link parts of the sentence together, and these words are often called Linkers.
Ellipsis
Sometimes the other words are understood, but not expressed.
If a police officer holds up their hand and says “Stop”, we understand other words from the situation: “I am wearing a police officer’s uniform, and I am authorised to instruct you to stop your car, so stop.”
In that situation there is a context (the domain): the street, with cars, cyclists, pedestrians and more. And there are the parts we are playing (our roles): driver, or police officer. These two things, domain and role, are hugely important in our choice of language, and understanding the meaning of everything we hear.
Note on when and the tenses
These two sentences are different:
The man ran away when the police came.
(when = at the same time)
The man had run away when the police came.
(when = before)
Notice the difference in the verb tenses. In the first sentence, we use two past tenses, and in the second sentence we use one past perfect tense and one past tense. It is the choice of tense which makes a difference to the meaning. That’s all for now!
© Shepherd School of English