Coordinating Conjunctions: FANBOYS
Coordinating conjunctions are an essential part of the English language, so it is astonishing how often and how egregiously they are misused. Let's take a look at the basic rules and regulations.
What are they?
You can remember your list of coordinating conjunctions with the mnemonic device FANBOYS, or For And Nor But Or Yet So. These words are used to join all kinds of things.
What do you do with them?
You can use coordinating conjunctions to connect compound subjects, such as "Bob AND Jane went to the market," or compound predicates like "Jim went to the market AND bought a gallon of milk." In both cases, notice that no comma is used, as we are just connecting words to make a phrase—we are not connecting clauses.
You can also use coordinating conjunctions with a comma to connect independent clauses, creating a compound sentence. Here's what it looks like:
"Roland chased Walter, FOR he had destroyed Roland's home."
"Roland was relentless, AND he followed Walter for years."
"Roland did not worry about his safety, NOR did he allow anyone to get in his way."
"Walter was clever, BUT he could not escape Roland's wrath."
"Roland would catch Walter, OR he would die trying."
"Roland knew that the world had moved on, YET he continued his crusade."
"Jake slowed Roland down, SO he let Jake fall to his death."
Notice in each of these cases that the words on either side of the coordinating conjunction and comma could make a full stand-alone sentence. These are called independent clauses. Notice, too, that the comma always comes before the coordinating conjunction.
There's more to it than this, but these are the basics, and if you follow these rules, most of the time you will be right.
You can also use coordinating conjunctions with a comma to connect independent clauses, creating a compound sentence. Here's what it looks like:
"Roland chased Walter, FOR he had destroyed Roland's home."
"Roland was relentless, AND he followed Walter for years."
"Roland did not worry about his safety, NOR did he allow anyone to get in his way."
"Walter was clever, BUT he could not escape Roland's wrath."
"Roland would catch Walter, OR he would die trying."
"Roland knew that the world had moved on, YET he continued his crusade."
"Jake slowed Roland down, SO he let Jake fall to his death."
Notice in each of these cases that the words on either side of the coordinating conjunction and comma could make a full stand-alone sentence. These are called independent clauses. Notice, too, that the comma always comes before the coordinating conjunction.
There's more to it than this, but these are the basics, and if you follow these rules, most of the time you will be right.