What are “coordinating conjunctions”?
Coordinating conjunctions join two independent clauses with the help of a comma. For example:
- I finished dinner, and I walked five miles.
Both clauses above are, essentially, separate sentences that have been joined with the help of a coordinating conjunction, “and,” and a comma. Coordinating conjunctions also help to join two equal parts in a sentence, e.g.:
- I ate lunch and dinner.
Both nouns, “lunch” and “dinner,” are weighted equally in the sentence, so a coordinating conjunction is called for.
Remember all coordinating conjunctions by the following mneumonic device: “FANBOYS”: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So.