Subordinating conjunctions show up when you need to join dependent and independent clauses. They’re most commonly used when you want to demonstrate cause and effect or other relationships.

There are lots of subordinating conjunctions as you can see by the list below. But the most commonly used are:

Commonly Used Subordinating Conjunctions

Other subordinating conjunctions include, but aren’t limited to: as far as, as if, as long as, as soon as, as though, assuming that, even if, even though, when, where, wherever, even though, every time, if, in case, in case that, in order that, now that, lest, once, only if, provided that, rather, rather than, so, so that, than, unless, until, whatever, where, whether, when, whenever, which, whichever, who, whoever, whom, whomever, & whose.

Often you can think of subordinating conjunctions in terms of groups based on the information that they help to provide. Take a look at this chart:

Yes! Several of the words above can be adverbs as well, but serve as subordinating conjunctions when they link two thoughts.

Here’s an example:
I thought the wallaby was a weird marsupial until I saw the platypus.

The independent clause: I thought the wallaby was a weird marsupial.
The dependent clause: Until I saw the platypus

The dependent clause cannot stand by itself as a sentence, but using the subordinating conjunction until enables the two clauses to be linked together for a complete thought.

For example,:
Until I saw the platypus, I thought the wallaby was a weird marsupial.
After we went to the zoo, my sister became obsessed with animals.