2. Using conjunctions

Essentially, the elements are simply linked, though we have the opportunity to see something more interesting in the relative clause.

From the point of view of the written language, a major consideration can be punctuation. In publications there will be varied practices. In the simple sentence one uses the comma to link more than two elements and to link elements connected by repeated or paired conjunctions. In the composite sentence, a comma is the strict rule. An acceptable single rule is that, if the subordinate clause comes after the main clause, then the comma comes before the subordinating conjunction (including when it is composite); alter­natively, where the subordinator is composite, the comma may precede the final component, namely що, щoб(и), як. If the composited conjunction is particularly 'large', it may even be recommended to precede both the final component and the entire conjunction by commas, as in:

Він має рацію, незважаючи на те, що вона не згодна з ним.

He's right, in spite of the fact that she doesn't agree with him.

Our main aim here is to give a few examples. We also occasionally give quite long sentences, simply to provide more data, even if we do not actually com­ment on it.

CONCATENATION

Coordination and subordination may be achieved simply by concatenating phrases and clauses, usually with the meaning, context, and intonation indi­cating the relations. A subordinate clause may have a gerund as verbal core. Here are a few examples:

Там сиділи мама, батько, діти.

Mother, father, (and) the children were sitting there.

Вона підійшла до мене, вона хотіла порозмовляти зі мною.

She came up to me, (because?) she wanted to have a chat with me.

Я взяв підручник, вийшов з помешкання, пішов до університету.

І took my textbook, went out of the flat, (and?) set off to the university.

Вони залюбки поїхали до Львова, проведуть там усього п'ять днів.

They eagerly set off to L'viv, (but?) will spend only five days there.

Знайшовши брата, Іван повернувся з ним додому.

Having found (= when/since/because he had found) his brother, Ivan returned home.

Згадуючи часи вільної України, я роблюся такою сумною.

Recalling (= as/when I recall) the days of a free Ukraine, I become so sad.

He переодягнувшись, він сів пообідати.

Не sat down to dinner without getting changed.

He бажаючи працювати в магазині в Києві, вона поїхала за кордон, нікому не сказавши ані слова.

Not wishing (= because she didn't wish) to work in a shop in Kyiv, she set off abroad without a word to anyone. (Note the obligatory genitive after the single, emphatic, (а)ні 'not a'.)

Машина не заводилась: бачок був порожнім.

The car wouldn't start - the tank was empty. (Shevchenko: 207)

Coordination with conjunctions

Within a single clause

Here we use the coordinating conjunctions.

Correlation: і (й), та, (а)ні, and so on

Мама й тато, брат і сестра.

Mum and dad, brother and sister.

Пташка летіла полями та лісами.

The bird flew over fields and forests.

У дитинстві Олекса мешкав як у Берліні, так і в Амстердамі.

In his childhood Oleksa lived both in Berlin and in Amsterdam.

Я не знаю ані Наталки, ані Лесі.

І know neither Natalka nor Lesja

(Note that a genitive direct object is not required here, as distinct from when (а)ні is used on its own.)

Ми не знаємо, де друзі. Вони також.

We don't know where our friends are. They don't either.

The conjunction і may also have a sense of 'also', 'too' when its position or the context indicates that. We may also find it, for example, after як, in the sense 'like… too', as in,

Марія, як і брат її, вчиться в університеті.

Marija, like her brother (too), is studying at university

Note above certain recommended punctuation patterns. A simple correlation of two elements with one conjunction normally does not require a comma, but more than one element, or one conjunction, will normally have the ele­ments separated by commas, with the comma coming before the conjunction:

І батьки, і діти чекали на автобус.

Both the parents and the children were waiting for the bus.

Сестра й донька, син і мама стояли та розмовляли.

Sister and daughter, son and mother were standing around chatting.