Conjunctions - make your sentences flow
What are conjunctions? Conjunctions join words or groups of words together.
The most common ones are and, or, and but.
The most common ones are and, or, and but.
There are many conjunctions - and a lot is said in grammar books about them. We speak of co-ordinate / coordinating and subordinate / subordinating conjunctions and correlative conjunctions.
Don't worry too much about all this at the moment - let's start with one group today:
Don't worry too much about all this at the moment - let's start with one group today:
Coordinating Conjunctions - meet the FANBOYS
The five coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.
These conjunctions can be remembered as the acronym FANBOYS, which uses the first letter of each of the coordinating conjunctions.
These conjunctions can be remembered as the acronym FANBOYS, which uses the first letter of each of the coordinating conjunctions.
::: F A N B O Y S :::
For - Explains reason or purpose (just like “because”)
- I go to the park every Sunday, for I love to watch the ducks on the lake.
- I go to the park every Sunday to watch the ducks on the lake and the men playing soccer
- I don’t go for the fresh air nor for the ducks.
- The soccer in the park is entertaining in the winter, but it’s better in the heat of summer.
- The men play on teams: shirts or skins.
- I always take a book to read, yet I never read a single page.
- I’ve started dating one of the soccer players, so now I have an excuse to watch the game each week.
Commas in a coordinating conjunction - yes or no?
If a coordinating conjunction is joining together two independent clauses (things that could stand alone as complete sentences), it needs to have a comma with it.
If the conjunction is connecting two phrases (incomplete sentences) or words (as in a list), it does not need a comma.
If the conjunction is connecting two phrases (incomplete sentences) or words (as in a list), it does not need a comma.
Can you begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction ?
Yes, you can - but you should not do it too often in a text. You will hear or read that it is not OK to do so, but actually this is not a grammatical law.
Come back tomorrow for playing some nice games
to practice using conjunctions!