Choosing the Right Connector
A Standard 7 class is writing a short report about a school garden. Four learners each write one sentence, and the teacher asks the class to judge which sentence is best and why.
- Learner A: "The tomatoes grew well, but we watered them every day."
- Learner B: "The tomatoes grew well because we watered them every day."
- Learner C: "The tomatoes grew well, so we watered them every day."
- Learner D: "The tomatoes grew well, although we watered them every day."
The teacher explains that a connector must match the real relationship between the two ideas: cause and result, contrast, or unexpected concession. The class must also check punctuation, because a comma alone cannot join two full sentences.
1. Judge each of the four sentences. Say whether the connector shows the correct relationship, and correct any that do not.
Read the worked answer
- A: Wrong. "But" signals contrast, yet watering daily supports good growth; there is no contrast. Correct version: "The tomatoes grew well because we watered them every day."
- B: Correct. "Because" introduces the cause of the good growth. The relationship is cause and result, and the punctuation is fine.
- C: Wrong direction. "So" makes watering the result of good growth, which reverses the real cause. Correct version: "We watered them every day, so the tomatoes grew well."
- D: Wrong. "Although" signals an unexpected concession, as if watering should have harmed the plants. Correct version: "The tomatoes grew well although we did not water them every day" (if that were true) or simply use B.
The best sentence is B. The judgement is not which connector sounds impressive, but whether the connector matches the logical link between the ideas.
2. A learner writes: "The garden was dry, the learners forgot to water it." Explain the punctuation error and give two correct rewrites that keep the same meaning.
Read the worked answer
The sentence contains two independent clauses joined only by a comma. This is a comma splice: a comma cannot by itself join two full sentences.
Two correct rewrites:
- "The garden was dry because the learners forgot to water it." (join with a subordinating connector, no comma needed)
- "The learners forgot to water the garden, so it was dry." (join with a coordinating connector after the comma)
Other acceptable options include using a full stop ("The garden was dry. The learners forgot to water it.") or a semicolon ("The garden was dry; the learners forgot to water it."). The key judgement is that a comma alone is not a joining word; it must work together with a connector, or be replaced by a stronger mark.