Subordinating conjunctions establish relationships between two ideas and always come at the beginning of a subordinate or dependent clause.

For example:

Carly played outside in the yard until it was too dark to see.
We went to the diner after the movie, then we went home.
This car is much larger than the one we used to have.
I didn't go to school yesterday because I was not feeling well.
The swimmers stayed close to shore as the waves were very powerful.

The underlined words in these sentences are subordinating conjunctions.

For example:

Carly played outside in the yard until it was too dark to see.

Here, the clause 'it was too dark to see' is a subordinate clause because it is dependent on another for its full meaning.

List of Common Subordinating Conjunctions

These are some common subordinating conjunctions:

After
As
Because
Even though
Now that
Rather than
So that
That
Until
When
While

Combining Sentences Using Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions can be used to combine two ideas.

Take a look at these sentences and consider how we can combine the independent and dependent clauses into one sentence.

Robert won't go to the party. His brother will go with him.
Robert won't go to the party unless his brother goes with him.
Ellen was out of breath. Ellen ran a mile in record time.
After she ran the mile in record time Ellen was out of breath.
Rooney watched TV. He also tried to do his homework.
Rooney tried to do his homework while he watched TV.
The plane has stopped. The passengers will get off the plane
Now that the plane has stopped, the passengers will get off.

Summary

A conjunction is a word that joins two parts of a sentence.
There are two kinds of conjunctions - Coordinating conjunctions and Subordinating conjunctions.
Subordinating conjunctions establish relationships between two ideas and always come at the beginning of a subordinate or dependent clause.
These are some common subordinating conjunctions:
- After
- As
- Because
- Even though
- Now that
- Rather than
- So that
- That
- Until
- When
- While
Subordinating conjunctions can be used to combine two ideas.