What is the term for a conjunction used to connect two grammatically parallel phrases or clauses?

• A. Coordinating Conjunction
• B. Idiom
• C. Parataxis
• D. Utterance

Answer: (A)

A coordinating conjunction links two elements that have equal status in the sentence. It connects parallel units—such as two nouns, two adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses—so the linked parts carry the same weight in the structure. Common coordinating conjunctions include and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so, and they are used to show addition, contrast, choice, or result between the parallel pieces. For example, bread and butter joins two noun items; she sang and danced joins two verbs; and I went to the store, and I bought milk joins two independent clauses. The other terms don’t fit this specific role: an idiom is a figurative expression, parataxis is a way of placing clauses side by side with little or no conjunctions, and an utterance is simply a spoken sentence.