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fan dancerFANBOYS

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 shoppingand bought dinner. (clause + phrase)

 

We went food shopping and bought dinner. 
Remove the comma when joining two similar sentence elements (verb – verb).
 

We went food shopping, and we bought dinner.
Use a comma when joining two independent clauses – both elements have a subject and a verb.
 

We bought meatand vegetables.  (noun + noun) 

We bought meat and vegetables.(Remove the comma when joining two nouns.)

We bought meat, vegetables, and fruit. (Use a comma to separate items in a series.)
 

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   

 

 

 

heroPractice 1

Joining phrases and clauses

 

 

Select the word (and punctuation) that best completes the sentence.

 

# YOUR RESPONSE CHECK YOUR ANSWER
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. (He's undecided.)
9.
10.
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Burned out ComputerPractice 2

Laptops On Fire

 

 

 

 

  1. Edit the text in the box. Punctuate the following sentences by adding periods and commas. Do not add any words.
  2. Compare your response to the answer by clicking the "check" button to the right.

 

# YOUR RESPONSE ANSWER CHECK
11.

 

12.

 

13.

 

14.

 

15.

 

16.

 

17.

 

18.

 

19.
20.


close the case – officially end the search for details