FANBOYS
Joining independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions
FANBOYS is an acronym made from the first letter of each connector word below.
Before you begin, make sure that you know what an
independent clauses is.
FANBOYS
| CONNECTORS | JOINED CLAUSES | ||
|---|---|---|---|
When joining one independent clause to another, select a coordinating conjunction that logically expresses the relationship of the two clauses. |
Place a comma before the coordinating conjunction to separate the two clauses. |
||
CONNECTOR |
CLAUSE 1 |
CLAUSE 2 |
COMPLEX SENTENCE |
FOR reason |
He couldn't go home. |
He had no place to go. |
*He couldn't go home , for he had no place to go. |
AND addtion |
I took a taxi. |
She drove home. |
I took a taxi , and she drove home. |
NOR and not |
He didn't want help. |
He didn't ask for it |
He didn't want help, nor did he ask for it. |
BUT contrast |
I wanted to go late. |
She wanted to go on time. |
I wanted to go late, but she wanted to go on time. |
OR options |
She cooked dinner. |
He took her out to a restaurant. |
She cooked dinner, or he took her out to a restaurant. |
YET unexpected outcome |
She owned a car. |
She didn't know how to drive it. |
She owned a car, yet she didn't know how to drive it. |
SO result |
She had to go. |
She called a friend to drive her. |
She had to go, so she called a friend to drive her. |
*Note: for as a connector, is not commonly used in spoken American English.
Conjunctions vs. Coordinating Conjunctions
| CONJUNCTIONS | COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Use a conjunction to join an independent clause to a phrase. Join two similar sentence elements: two nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, verbal phrases, noun phrases, etc. |
Use a coordinating conjunction to join two independent clauses that are closely related (share a common idea.) An independent clause requires at minimum a subject and a verb. |
||||
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE |
CONJ. |
PHRASE |
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE |
COORD. CONJ. |
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE |
She danced |
and |
waved a fan. (verb + verb) |
She danced |
, and |
he played a flute. |
She played the piano |
but |
preferred dancing. (verb phrase + verb phrase) |
She played the piano |
, but |
we preferred dancing. |
Did she play the piano |
or |
the guitar? (noun + noun) |
She played the piano |
, or |
John played the guitar. |
Common Mistakes
| ERROR | FIX |
|---|---|
We went food shopping, and bought dinner. (clause + phrase)
|
We went food shopping and bought dinner. |
We bought meat, and vegetables. (noun + noun) |
We bought meat and vegetables.(Remove the comma when joining two nouns.) |
We went food shopping and he washed the car. (clause + clause) |
We went food shopping, and he washed the car. (Add a comma when joining an independent clause.)
|
Related pages: Fragments (Clauses) | Run-ons | Comma–series
Advanced Notes
Expressions & Punctuation
Conjunction Expressions
| VERB + AND + VERB | AND or INFINITIVE |
|---|---|
These are commonly used verb pairs. Informal American English usage may drop and with come and go. Other verb tenses may be used with these verbs. |
These verbs are commonly paired with a second verb and are joined with either and or to (infinitive). They occur only with the base form of the verb. Other verb tenses are not used. |
Come and see what I did. Come see… – informal |
Try and do your work well. (Try to do…) |
Go and get your shoes. Go get… – informal |
Wait and see what happens. (Wait to see…) |
Hurry up and open the door. We hurried and opened… / We hurried to open… |
Be sure and do it correctly. (Be sure to do…) |
Stay and have another drink. We stayed and had … (Other verb forms may be used.) |
We were sure and did it correctly. (Use the base form of these verb pairs.) |
A Comma vs. a Semicolon
| TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES SPECIFICALLY RELATED | TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES SOMEHOW RELATED |
|---|---|
Use a comma to join one independent clause to another independent clause that begins with a coordinating conjunction (The conjunction specifically relates the clauses by indicating addition, contrast, reason, result, unexpected outcome, purpose, etc.) |
Use a semicolon to join one independent clause to another when the idea of the two clauses is somehow related. No conjunction is used; the relationship is understood from the context. |
I took a taxi, and she drove home. |
I took a taxi; she drove home. (addition) |
He didn't want help, nor did he ask for it. |
He didn't want help; he didn't ask for it. (neg. addition) |
I wanted to go late, but she wanted to go on time. |
I wanted to go late; she wanted to go on time. (contrast) |
She had to go, so she called a friend to
drive her. |
She had to go; she called a friend to
drive her. (result) |
Content page: semicolons
Practice 1
Joining phrases and clauses
Select the word (and punctuation) that best completes the sentence.
- Select your response from the menu.
- Compare your response the answer on the right.
Practice 2
Laptops On Fire
- Edit the text in the box. Punctuate the following sentences by adding periods and commas. Do not add any words.
- Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.