You use a coordinating conjunction ("for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," or "so": F.A.N.B.O.Y.S.) to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. Note that you can also use the conjunctions "but" and "for" as prepositions.

In the following sentences, each of the highlighted words is a coordinating conjunction:

Link Two Nouns

Lilacs and violets are usually purple.

In this example, the coordinating conjunction "and" links two nouns.

Link Two Independent Clauses

This movie is particularly interesting to feminist film theorists, for the screenplay was written by Mae West.

In this example, the coordinating conjunction "for" is used to link two independent clauses.

Link Two Sentences

Terri completed her essay before the deadline. But she forgot to upload it to the essay submission website.

Link Two Participle Phrases

Daniel's uncle claimed that he spent most of his youth dancing on rooftops and swallowing goldfish.

Here the coordinating conjunction "and" links two participle phrases ("dancing on rooftops" and "swallowing goldfish") which act as adverbs describing the verb "spends."