Etymology

Conjunction

1. Used to connect two homogeneous (similar) words or phrases.

   Boys and girls come out to play.

2. Used at the end of a list to indicate the last item.

   bread, butter and cheese

3. Used to join sentences or sentence fragments in chronological order.

   I mended the chair and it broke again.

4. Used to indicate causation.

   Ask me the definition of “and” again and I’ll scream.

5. To; used to connect two finite verbs.

   Try and do better.

   Be sure and read it twice.

   Call and see whether John is coming over.

6. Used to indicate addition.

   Five and six are eleven.

7. If.
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII:

     "Where ys Sir Launcelot?" seyde King Arthure. "And he were here, he wolde nat grucche to do batayle for you."

Usage notes

1. Beginning a sentence with or other coordinating conjunctions is considered incorrect by classical grammarians arguing that a coordinating conjunction at the start of a sentence has nothing to connect, but use of the word in this way is very common. The practice will be found in literature from Anglo-Saxon times onwards, especially as an aid to continuity in narrative and dialogue. The OED provides examples from the 9^th century to the 19^th century, including one from Shakespeare’s King John: “Arthur. Must you with hot Irons, burne out both mine eyes? Hubert. Young boy, I must. Arthur. And will you? Hubert. And I will.” It is also used for other rhetorical purposes, especially to denote surprise
   
   

   (O John! and you have seen him! And are you really going?—1884

   
   
   in OED) and sometimes just to introduce an improvised afterthought
   
   

   (I’m going to swim. And don’t you dare watch—G. Butler, 1983)

   
   
   It is, however, poor style to separate short statements into separate sentences when no special effect is needed: I opened the door and I looked into the room (not I opened the door. And I looked into the room). Combining sentences or starting with in addition or moreover is preferred in formal writing.
   
   
2. is often omitted for contextual effects of various kinds, especially between sequences of descriptive adjectives which can be separated by commas or simply by spaces
   
   

   (The teeming jerrybuilt dun-coloured traffic-ridden deafening city—Penelope Lively, 1987)

   
   
   is a well-established tag added to the end of a statement, as in
   
   

   Isn’t it amazing? He has a Ph.D. and all—J. Shute, 1992

   
   
   With the nominal meaning “also, besides, in addition”, the use has origins in dialect, as can be seen from the material from many regions given in the English Dialect Dictionary (often written in special ways, e.g., , ). In many of the examples it seems to lack any perceptible lexical meaning and to be just a rhythmical device to eke out a sentence.
   
   
3. also has special uses: to show progression (faster and faster), cause and effect (do that and I’ll send you to bed), duration (they ran and ran), a large number or quantity (miles and miles), addition (four and four are eight), and purpose (where replaces : Try and come tomorrow).
   
   
4. Another special use, recorded in the OED from the 16^th century, is to express “a difference of quality between things of the same name or class”, as in W.S. Gilbert’s lines from the Gondoliers (1889): “Well, as to that, of course there are kings and kings. When I say I detest kings I mean I detest bad kings”. To this we may add some modern examples:
   
   

   There are ways to steal and there are ways to steal—New Yorker, 1988

   
   
   

   There is homelessness and homelessness. The word has become a shibboleth for opposition politicians and the ‘caring’ media … The sort of homelessness which means despair is quite different from the sort that means adventure—Times, 1991