A conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or sentences. The easiest conjunctions to remember are "and" and "or." But there are conjunctions that do more than just connect—they give meaning to a sentence by expressing the time that something is happening: conjunctions of time.

You can easily tell if a conjunction of time is being used in a sentence because the sentence will tell you when something happens or for how long something is occurring. If you can make a "when" or "for how long" question from the sentence, and that question can be answered by the other half of the sentence, then you know that the sentence is using a conjunction of time.

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In Part I, we learned about when, before, after, while, as, by the time, until, and till. Let's continue today with the remaining conjunctions of time.

Since

There have been ravens here since the reign of Charles the Second,

Caption 9, The London Story -  Tower of London

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And I've been doing that since I was ten years old.

Caption 6, Ashley Tisdale - Thanksgiving Traditions

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Be careful not to confuse the conjunction of time "since" with the preposition "since," which means "because."

As soon as

As soon as your baby is born, you will give it to me.

Caption 41, Fairy Tales - Rapunzel 

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As soon as we showed up, the bears raced off into the forest.

Caption 8, Alaska Revealed - Tidal Bores, Icebergs and Avalanches

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Whenever

You should try to ignore cyberbullying whenever possible.

Caption 4, Bob Parsons - Cyberbullies

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You can listen to Radio One whenever you want.

Caption 56, Hozier - Someone New

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The first (second, third etc.) time

The first time was a very good experience

and the second time is also a very good experience.

Captions 5-6, The Olympics - Teresa Gabriele (Canada)

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That was the third time we were in the studio.

Caption 22, MTV News - Selena Gomez Decodes Her Instagram Pics

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Further Learning
Go to Yabla English and find other sentences (not questions) that contain the conjunctions of time "since," "as soon as," "whenever," and "the first time"—or any time you care to choose! Write these sentences down and practice making questions and answers from the sentences like we did above.

A conjunction is a part of speech that connects words, phrases, or sentences. The easiest conjunctions to remember are "and" and "or." But there are conjunctions that do more than just connect—they give meaning to a sentence by expressing the time that something is happening: conjunctions of time.

You can easily tell if a conjunction of time is being used in a sentence because the sentence will tell you when something happens or for how long something is occurring. If you can make a "when" or "for how long" question from the sentence, and that question can be answered by the other half of the sentence, then you know that the sentence is using a conjunction of time.

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When

When I flew in on the float plane, they were all there on the boat.

Caption 4, Alaska Revealed - Endless Wave

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Q: When were they all there on the boat? A: When I flew in on the float plane.

Before

Be sure to put your mask on before helping them.

Caption 18, Air New Zealand - An Unexpected Briefing

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Q: When should I be sure to put my mask on? A: Before I help them.

After

They have to defend their breed from predators

for up to four weeks after they're born.

Captions 49-50, Evolution - Deep Ocean

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Q: When do they have to defend their breed? A: After they are born.

While

We have to tread lightly while filming.

Caption 40, Nature & Wildlife - Search for the Ghost Bear

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Q: When do we have to tread lightly? A: While filming.

As

We paddle along and we pick up trash as we go

Caption 23, Alison's Adventures - Your Passport To the World (LONDON)

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Q: When do we pick up trash? A: As we go.

By the time

By the time I got to New York,

I was living like a king

Captions 10-11, David Bowie - Lazarus

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Q: When were you living like a king? A: By the time I got to New York.

Note that some conjunctions of time are also phrases, not just a single word.

Until, till

The conjunctions of time "until" and "till" are interchangeable and you may use either word. Many people wrongly think that "till" is just shortened version of "until," but in fact "till" is the older word, in use since the 9th century. The variant "until" has been in use since the 12th century. These two words are unusual in that they express a length of time rather than a point in time, so we should ask the question using "for how long" instead of "when."

She sat until she broke the chair.

Caption 28, Story Hour - Goldilocks and the 3 Bears

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Q: For how long was she sitting? A: Until she broke the chair.

So he sat on a chair,

till he died of despair,

Captions 20-21, Sigrid explains - The Limerick

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Q: For how long was he sitting? A: Till he died of despair.

Further Learning
Don't despair, and by all means stay healthy! Go to Yabla English and find other sentences (not questions) that contain the conjunctions of time "when," "before," "after," "while," "as," "by the time," "until" and "till." Write these sentences down and practice making questions and answers from the sentences like we did above. You can also read more about "until" and "till" on the Merriam-Webster website.

When you want to discuss something that somebody has said, it is called "reported speech" or "indirect speech," as opposed to quoting somebody directly. 

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Imagine you are at work, for instance, and a supplier named Daniel tells you "Most of our new accounts are getting a 30% increase, but I can cut you some slack." This means that Daniel will have to charge your company more money, but he can "cut some slack," meaning he can make the increase not so large for your company. When your boss asks you what Daniel said, you would use "reported speech" to tell him: 

Daniel said most of their new accounts are getting a thirty percent increase, but he said he could cut us some slack.

Captions 29-30, Business English - Difficulties with Coworkers and Contracts

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Note the difference in how the speaker changes from first person "our" and "I" to third person "their" and "he":

Direct speech: Daniel said, "Most of our new accounts are getting a 30% increase, but I can cut you some slack."

Indirect speech: Daniel said most of their new accounts are getting a 30% increase, but he said he could cut us some slack. 

Note that indirect speech eliminates the need for quotation marks. Another primary feature of indirect speech is using a phrase such as "he said," "she said," etc. followed by a description of what the person said. Here is a sample of other verbs you can use to report what somebody said: 

—to tell: 

They told me I was going to lose the fight.

Caption 9, Kate Bush - Wuthering Heights

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—to state:

A spokesman for the Ministry of Plenty stated last night that it will be necessary to reduce the chocolate ration to twenty grams in April.

Captions 12-13, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four - BBC TV Movie

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—to mention: 

You mentioned you're single.

Caption 10, Conan - Alice Eve Explains Differences Between American & UK Dating

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–to confess: 

You've confessed to assassination, to distribution of seditious pamphlets, to religion, to embezzlement of Party funds, sale of military secrets, sabotage, murder. 

Captions 28-31, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four - BBC TV Movie

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—to claim

They claimed to be weavers of a rare and especially beautiful and precious cloth.

Caption 24, Fairy Tales - The Emperor's New Clothes

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Further Learning
Try taking the sample sentences above and reconstructing the direct speech. For example, "He told me he'd come to demolish the house." Change that into "He said, 'I've come to demolish the house.'" Now try it with the other examples!

If you are learning English in a small group, have one person state something as direct speech and another person then report what that person said. If John says "I speak the best English in the class," then Jenny can say "John claims to speak the best English in the class." 

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You can also go to Yabla English and find other examples of indirect speech based on the verbs listed above.