Co-ordinate Conjunctions
Co-ordinate conjunctions join similar words,
phrases or clauses to each
other (i.e., to join an adjective to an adjective or a noun to a noun).
The most common co-ordinate conjunctions are: and, but, or, for, nor, so and
yet.
The conjunctions and, but and or are the
most common by far.
Examples:
 The waiters
served sandwiches and cakes. (joins
two nouns)
He is a
small but aggressive dog. (joins two
adjectives)
The manager or
his secretary will be with you in a moment. (joins
two nouns)
He typed the
letter quickly but accurately. (joins two
adverbs)
In the examples above, the conjunctions all join words. As a general
rule, when a conjunction joins two words, there is no need to precede it
with a comma. However, when it joins two clauses, it is usual to place
a comma before the conjunction.
Examples:
The
applicant must be able to sing and dance. (no
comma)
The
applicant must be able to sing, and she must be able to dance. (joins
two clauses - comma required)
Interactive example:
|
Pat and
I slept, but Julie stayed awake
the whole way. [show me the co-ordinate conjunction] |
See also:
Glossary of grammatical terms
|
