Conjunctions are composed of one or more words, are invariable, and are used to link words or phrases of equal grammatical status (coordinating conjunctions):
Nous achetons un billet et
nous allons au cinéma.
(We buy a ticket and we go to the movies.)
Words or phrases of unequal status but closely related, one being the main clause, and the other, the subordinate clause (subordinating conjunctions):
Mon grand-père marche jusqu'à ce qu'il
soit fatigué.
(My grandfather walks until he is tired.)
Notes:
French conjunctions may take on a different meaning based on their context.
There is a close relationship between conjunctions, prepositions and even adverbs. Similar words may be found in more than one of these categories.
après (after =
preposition)
après (afterwards = adverb)
après que (after = conjunction)
In most cases, the compound conjunction consists of the preposition, or the adverb, followed by que, the most common subordinating conjunction.
See Also: