Mastering coordinating conjunctions (misplaced words) is essential for improving your English sentence structure and avoiding common syntax errors in competitive exams and everyday writing.
What Are Coordinating Conjunctions (Misplaced Words)?
In English grammar, correlative or compound coordinating conjunctions (such as either...or, neither...nor, and not only...but also) must be placed immediately before words of the exact same part of speech. When these elements are placed before different grammatical parts of speech, a misplaced modifier error occurs, making the sentence grammatically incorrect.
How to Fix Misplaced Coordinating Conjunctions in Sentences
To ensure structural balance (parallelism) in a compound sentence, check that the words immediately following each part of the conjunction match in grammatical category (e.g., noun matches noun, verb matches verb).
Examples of Correct and Incorrect Conjunction Placement
| Incorrect Sentence (Misplaced) | Correct Sentence | Grammatical Rule |
|---|---|---|
| He neither speaks English nor Hindi. | He speaks neither English nor Hindi. | Both parts precede nouns (English, Hindi). |
| You can eat either the fish or sell it. | You can either eat the fish or sell it. | Both parts precede verbs (eat, sell). |
| He is not only a poet but also very popular. | He is not only a poet but also an artist. | Both parts precede noun phrases (a poet, an artist). |
Key Takeaways
- Coordinating conjunction parts must connect parallel grammatical units.
- Placing conjunctions before different parts of speech creates a misplaced word error.
- Ensure nouns match nouns and verbs match verbs following correlative pairs.
Quick Practice
Identify and fix the error in this sentence: She will buy either a blue dress or will make one. Write your corrected answer in the comments below!
Frequently Asked Questions
What are correlative coordinating conjunctions?
Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions—such as either...or, neither...nor, and not only...but also—that work together to coordinate two balanced items in a sentence.
Why do misplaced words happen with conjunctions?
Misplaced words happen when writers place parts of a conjunction before mismatched parts of speech, breaking the rule of parallelism in sentence structure.