LINKING WORDS: AND, BUT & OR

1. ‘AND’, ‘BUT’, ‘OR’, ‘NOT ONLY’

Podemos usar ‘AND‘, ‘BUT‘ y ‘OR‘ para unir dos oraciones. Ponemos el ‘LINKER’ entre las dos oraciones.

• I’ve washed up and I’ve put the dishes away.
• I’ve washed up, but I haven’t put the dishes away.
• I can wash up or I can put the dishes away.

Después de ‘AND‘ y ‘OR‘ no necesitamos repetir el sujeto (I, he, you, etc.) o auxiliares ni modales.

• I’ve washed up and (I’ve) put the dishes away.
• I can wash up or (I can) put the dishes away.

Incluso si el verbo es el mismo en ambas oraciones, este se puede quitar y no repetirlo.

• I’ve made a cake and (I’ve made) some biscuits.
• Would you like tea or (would you like) coffee?

AND

Para añadir información extra y relacionar oraciones que aporta ideas similares que suman utilizamos ‘and‘:

• Dave turned the key and opened the door.

NOT ONLY (NO SOLO)

Parecido al ‘LINKER’ ‘and‘, pero más enfático, encontramos este ‘not only‘ que puede ir solo o llevar un añadido ‘not only… but also‘.

• It’s expensive and badly made.
• It’s not only expensive, it’s badly made.
• It’s not only expensive, but also badly made.

OR

Podemos utilizar ‘or‘ para introducir una posible elección entre dos o más elementos.

• Which do you prefer – tea or coffee?
• I’d like a holiday in Cardiff, London or Bristol.

2. ‘BOTH… AND‘, ‘EITHER… OR‘, ‘NEITHER… NOR‘

Podemos usar las estructuras ‘both… and‘ y ‘either… or‘ para hacer más fuerte el significado de ‘and‘ y ‘or‘.

BOTH… AND

Para conectar dos acciones, cosas o personas similares en algún aspecto podemos utilizar ‘both… and‘.

• Clint Eastwood both acted in the film and directed it.
• Hilary speaks French and Japanese.
• Hilary speaks both French and Japanese.
• We can go shopping and see the film. We’ve got time.
• We can both go shopping and see the film. We’ve got time.

EITHER… OR

Cuando solo hay dos opciones podemos emplear ‘either… or‘. Solo cuando tenemos una elección entre dos posibilidades.

• You can either come with me or stay here.
• We can go either by bus or by train.

• We can watch TV or we can listen to music.
• We can either watch TV or (we can) listen to music.

NEITHER… NOR

Si las dos opciones que tenemos son negativas podemos entonces utiliar ‘neither… nor‘.

• She has no talent – she can neither sing nor dance! (=She can’t sing and she can’t dance).
• Neither the chairman nor his assistant usually attends the conference.

3. AS WELL AS, IN ADDITION TO

Podemos utilizar la expresión ‘as well as‘ (además de, así como también) y en el inglés formal ‘in addition (to) (además de, a ello se suma)’ para sumar ideas que van añadiendo información extra y similar.

• She has a car as well as a bicycle.
• As well as a bicycle, she has a car.
• You must supply proof of your current address in addition to proof of identity.
• We offer a range of phone services. In addition, we can supply Internet access.

Si queremos utilizar un verbo tras estos ‘LINKERS’, debemos utilizar un gerundio.

• Harry sings as well as playing the violin.
• Harry sings as well as plays the violin.