Contrast

This is better illustrated from the composite sentence.

Separation: або/чи

Олекса або/чи Богдан будуть у нас завтра.

Oleksa or Bohdan will be with us tomorrow.

Або/Чи Олекса, або/чи Богдан будуть у нас завтра.

Either Oleksa or Bohdan will be with us tomorrow.

Within the composite sentence

Coordination: та, і (й), не тільки ... але ...

Він іде та слухає.

Не walks along listening.

Вона взяла ручку й замовкла.

She took the pen and (then) fell silent.

Євген як співає, так і грає на скрипці дуже добре.

Jevhen both sings and plays the violin really well.

Тарас не тільки буде в Житомирі у вівторок, але навіть залишиться там до кінця місяця.

Taras will not only be in Zhytomyr on Tuesday, but will even stay there till the end of the month.

Contrast: а, але, та, проте, зате, однак

Мама читає, а син пише.

Mother is reading, but/while her son is writing.

Ігор пише, але й думає про сьогоднішні зустрічі.

Igor writes, but (also) thinks about today's meetings.

Я полетів би до тебе, та грошей не маю.

I'd fly off to see you, but I don't have any money.

Проте в конструкціях таких із родовим відмінком,...

But in such constructions with the genitive case . . .

Мороз припікає, зате комарів немає.

The frost is biting, but (at least) there are no mosquitoes.

Зате ж на деяких, навпаки, доведеться зупинитися довше з огляду на їх велику вагу в синтаксисі та на те, що за них уперше говориться.

But we shall, on the contrary, have to pause longer on certain of them on account of their great importance in syntax and because we are discuss­ing them for the first time.

Однак, він не знає, чому вони вирішили залишитися вдома.

However, he doesn't know why they decided to stay at home.

Separation: або, чи ... чи ...

Вона канадка або американка - я точно не знаю.

She's Canadian or American -1 don't actually know.

Чи вони всі зустрінуться на вокзалі, чи кожен піде сам до кафе.

Either they'll meet at the station, or each one will go alone to the cafe.

Чи вона вчора написала мені листа, чи вона сама приїде за тиждень.

Either she wrote me a letter yesterday, or she'll be here herself in a week's time.

SUBORDINATION WITH CONJUNCTIONS

Regarding punctuation, note that, within a sentence, the conjunction is as a rule either preceded by a comma or, if it is a compound conjunction, either entirely preceded by a comma or split by a comma, the comma coming before the core conjunction if there is one, i.e. що, щоб, як. When the conjunction is split by a comma, one might imagine a slight increase of emphasis on the lexical meaning of the conjunction. If the conjunction comes first in a sentence, then a comma precedes the main clause. Conjunc­tions are followed by finite forms of verbs unless the subject of the main and adverbial clause are identical, in which case an infinitive is preferred, for example,

Після того як увійти до хати, я розплакався.

After entering the house, I burst into tears.

Noun or final clauses, and indirect speech

The most general link is що 'that', as in:

Ми добре знаємо, що вона буде тут завтра.

We know perfectly well that she will be here tomorrow.

Учитель пояснює учням, що англійська мова легша, ніж українська.

The teacher explains to the pupils that English is easier than Ukrainian.

We can call these 'noun clauses' because the whole subordinate clause is akin to a noun or noun phrase, as if the first might be 'We well know her coming tomorrow'. One sometimes encounters the conjunction як, the second most general Ukrainian conjunction, in similar sentences, but note the difference, though the second remains interpretable nominally:

Я бачу, що він шукає ножа.

І can see [that] he's looking for the knife.

Я бачу, як він шукає ножа.

І can see him looking for the knife.

Similar is the construction to convey indirect or reported speech. We simply have to note that here Ukrainian on the whole retains the tense of the assumed original statement.

Вона каже, що готова поїхати до Харкова.

She says she's ready to set off for Kharkiv.

Вона каже, що сподівалася провести кілька днів на пляжі.

She says she was hoping to spend several days on the beach.

Вона каже, що читатиме вірші сьогодні ввечері.

She says she'll be reading the verses this evening.

Вона сказала, що готова поїхати до Харкова.

She said she was ready to set off for Kharkiv.

Вона сказала, що сподівалася провести кілька днів на пляжі.

She said she had been hoping to spend several days on the beach.

Вона сказала, що читатиме вірші сьогодні ввечері.

She said she would be reading the verses this evening.

Thus, if the verb of the main clause is in the non-past, there is no difference between Ukrainian and English, but if the verb of the main clause is in the past, then there may be a difference, with Ukrainian having one set of sub­ordinate clauses as against the two of English. Do note that, where both verbs are in the past, both may be translated as past: 'She said she was hoping to spend several days on the beach'. Here verbal aspect plays a part, since a perfective past in the reported speech will certainly convey 'had done', for example:

Вона мені сказала, що вирішила провести цілу ніч на пляжі.

She told me she had decided to spend the whole night on the beach.