The French lexeme et and the Russian lexeme и have a wide functional potential, which is realized both within simple and complex sentences, as well as in the text. Acting as copulative conjunctions, they can be referred to semantic primitives. Though global tendencies in the functioning of coordinating conjunctions in Russian and French languages are basically the same, there is no full coincidence for copulative conjunctions, as the French conjunction et has a wider functional range. While connecting one predicative unit to another, it creates potential for their juxtaposition. Used in interactive function in an emotive interrogative sentence, et turns into a particle and loses the properties of semantic primitive. In Russian it corresponds to the particle a .