Coordinating Conjunctions (FANBOYS)
- combine 2 sentences together
- called a compound sentence
- A comma is placed before the conjunction.
For And Nor But Or Yet So
EX: I like pizza, but my favorite food is a taco.
EX: He wanted to go home, so he pretended
to be sick.
Watch Bieber sing compound sentences!
Compound Subjects and Compound Verbs
Sometimes a conjunction joins subjects or
verbs together.
EX: Bob and Jim wanted pizza.
EX: Bob read and tested on the book.
If there are 2 subjects and 1 verb,
no comma is needed.
EX: John and I like pizza.
(2 subjects - John, I)
If there is 1 subject and 2 verbs,
no comma is needed.
EX: I ate and slept yesterday.
(2 verbs - ate, slept)
Subordinate Conjunctions (big fat conjunctions) - create complex sentences.
- When the SC is in the middle of the sentence, no comma is used.
- If the SC is at the beginning of the sentence, a comma is used after the first clause.
EX: I like pizza although my favorite food is a taco.
EX: Although I like pizza, my favorite food is a taco.
Correlative Conjunctions
These are actually FANBOYS connected to an adjective or adverb.
They are used in pairs.
*either...or
*neither...nor
*both...and
*so...as
*whether...or
*not only...but also
The type of word that follows the first conjunction will follow the second conjunction.
For example:
if a noun follows either, then a noun will follow or. If an adjective comes after both, then an adjective will come after and.
Examples
You should either study or read.
either is followed by the verb study, or is followed by the verb read.
Neither John nor Mary wanted to leave.
neither is followed by the noun John, nor is followed by the noun Mary.
Both big and small dogs are cute.
both is followed by the adjective big, and is followed by the adjective small.
It is not only raining but also hailing.
not only is followed by the noun raining, but also is followed by the noun hailing.