Rules for using a coordinating conjunction

1. Put a comma before the coordinating conjunction when it is used to

connect two independent clauses.

A clause is a group of words the contain a subject and a verb.

An independent clause (or main clause) expresses a complete thought. It can stand alone
as a sentence. For example, "I like apples."

(A dependent clause does not express a complete thought. It cannot stand alone as a
sentence. For example, "that I saw last month.")

Examples of independent clauses:

 Tom walked the dog.

Subject = Tom
Verb = walked

"Tom walked the dog" is an independent clause.

 Tom grabbed the mail.

Subject = Tom
Verb = grabbed

"Tom grabbed the mail" is also an independent clause.

These two independent clauses can be combined with a coordinating conjunction. When we
combine these two sentences, the second "Tom" will be changed to "he."

Examples:

 Tom walked the dog, so he grabbed the mail.

OR
Tom walked the dog, and he grabbed the mail.

Both parts of the sentence have a subject and verb (before and after the coordinating
conjunction).

Here are a few more examples of coordinating conjunctions connecting independent clauses.

Incorrect: I want to go see a movie but my sister has my car.

Correct: I want to go see a movie, but my sister has my car.

Incorrect: Lisa loves cats yet she does not want one living in her house.

Correct: Lisa loves cats, yet she does not want one living in her house.

2. When using a coordinating conjunction to connect two items, do not

use a comma.

In the example above with Tom and his dog, we can leave out the comma if we do not have
two independent clauses. We do this by leaving out the subject in the second part of the
sentence (he).

Example:

 Tom walked the dog and grabbed the mail.

("Tom walked the dog" is an independent clause, but "grabbed the mail" is not.)

Here are a few more examples of how to use a coordinating conjunction to connect two items
that are not independent clauses.

Incorrect: She likes apples, and bananas.

Correct: She likes apples and bananas.

Incorrect: My brother is young, but smart.

Correct: My brother is young but smart.

3. When using a coordinating conjunction with a list of items (three or

more in number), the comma before the coordinating conjunction is
optional.

You should put or leave out the comma before the coordinating conjunction based on the style
guide you are using.

Example with comma:

 She is cooking chicken, potatoes, corn, and carrot.

Example without comma:

 She is cooking chicken, potatoes, corn and carrot.

  What Are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that link other words, phrases, or clauses together.

I like cooking and eating, but I don’t like washing dishes afterward. Sophie is clearly
exhausted, yet she insists on dancing till dawn.

Conjunctions allow you to form complex, elegant sentences and avoid the
choppiness of multiple short sentences. Make sure that the phrases joined by
conjunctions are parallel (share the same structure.

I work quickly and am careful.

I work quickly and carefully.

Coordinating Conjunctions
Coordinating conjunctions allow you to join words, phrases, and clauses of equal
grammatical rank in a sentence. The most common coordinating conjunctions
are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so; you can remember them by using the
mnemonic device FANBOYS.

I’d like pizza or a salad for lunch. We needed a place to concentrate, so we packed up our
things and went to the library. Jesse didn’t have much money, but she got by.

Notice the use of the comma when a coordinating conjunction is joining two
independent clauses.

Correlative Conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that work together. Some

examples are either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also.
Not only am I finished studying for English, but I’m also finished writing my history essay. I
am finished with both my English essay and my history essay.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions join independent and dependent clauses. A

subordinating conjunction can signal a cause-and-effect relationship, a contrast,
or some other kind of relationship between the clauses. Common subordinating
conjunctions are because, since, as, although, though, while, and whereas.
Sometimes an adverb, such as until, after, or before can function as a conjunction.

I can stay out until the clock strikes twelve.

Here, the adverb until functions as a coordinating conjunction to connect two

ideas: I can stay out (the independent clause) and the clock strikes twelve (the
dependent clause). The independent clause could stand alone as a sentence; the
dependent clause depends on the independent clause to make sense.

The subordinating conjunction doesn’t need to go in the middle of the sentence. It

has to be part of the dependent clause, but the dependent clause can come before
the independent clause.

Before he leaves, make sure his room is clean.

If the dependent clause comes first, use a comma before the independent clause.

I drank a glass of water because I was thirsty. Because I was thirsty, I drank a glass of water.
Starting a Sentence with a Conjunction

Many of us were taught in school that it is an error to begin a sentence with a

conjunction, but that rule is a myth. As mentioned above, a subordinating

conjunction can begin a sentence if the dependent clause comes before the

independent clause. It’s also correct to begin a sentence with a coordinating

conjunction. Often, it’s a good way to add emphasis. Beginning too many sentences

with conjunctions will cause the device to lose its force, however, so use this

technique sparingly.

Have a safe trip. And don’t forget to call when you get home. Gertie flung open the door. But
there was no one on the other side.

List of Conjunctions

Coordinating Conjunctions

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Correlative Conjunctions

both/and, either/or, neither/nor, not only/but, whether/or

Some Subordinating Conjunctions

after, although, as, as if, as long as, as much as, as soon as, as though, because,
before, by the time, even if, even though, if, in order that, in case, in the event that,
lest , now that, once, only, only if, provided that, since, so, supposing, that, than,
though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, whether or
not, while

Key Rules in CAPITALIZATION

1. Names or titles of people
This one may seem obvious, but there’s also a catch. Of course, you capitalize the first letters of
a person’s first, middle and last names (John Quincy Adams), but you also capitalize suffixes (Jr.,
the Great, Princess of Power, etc.) and titles.
Titles can be as simple as Mr., Mrs. or Dr., but they also apply to situations wherein you address
a person by his or her position as though it were part of their name. For example, when we talk
about President Lincoln, we are using his role as though it were a title not a job description.
However, we wouldn’t capitalize the word president if it wasn't being used as a title. For
example: "During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the president of the United States."
When capitalizing general job titles look at the position of the job title in the sentence in reference
to the person's name. This will help you know if it should be capitalized or not.
 As we've seen above you should capitalize the title when it come immediately before
someone's name.
 You don't capitalize the job title if it is separated from the name, such as by a comma or the
word "the."
For example: "Dr. Rogers was the cardiac surgeon on call." "While I was an intern I got to shadow
Senior Marketing Director Sam Jones for a day."
2. Names of mountains, mountain ranges, hills and volcanoes
Again, we’re talking about specific places. The word ‘hill’ is not a proper noun, but Gellert Hill is
because it’s the name of one specific hill. Use a capital letter to begin each word in the name of a
mountain (Mt. Olympus), mountain range (the Appalachians), hill (San Juan Hill) or volcano (Mt.
Vesuvius).
3. Names of bodies of water (rivers, lakes, oceans, seas, streams and creeks)
From here, it gets pretty easy. The same rules that apply to mountain names also apply to water
names. A river is just a river, but the Mississippi River is a proper noun and must be capitalized,
just like Lake Erie, the Indian Ocean and the Dead Sea.
4. Names of buildings, monuments, bridges and tunnels
Man-made structures also often have names. The White House, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of
Liberty, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Lincoln Tunnel are a few good examples.
5. Street names
Capitalize both the actual name part of the name (Capital) and the road part of the name
(Boulevard); both are necessary for forming the entire name of the street (Capital Boulevard).
6. Schools, colleges and universities
All of the words in the name of the educational institution should be capitalized. For example,
Harvard University, Wilkesboro Elementary School, Cape Fear Community College.
7. Political divisions (continents, regions, countries, states, counties, cities and towns)
As is the case with regions of a country, the divisions may not always be political, but you get the
idea. When you refer to New England, the Midwest, the Pacific Northwest or the South as a region
(as opposed to a compass direction), you capitalize it. Also, continents (South America),
countries (Belgium), states (Wisconsin), counties (Prince William County), cities (London) and
towns (Lizard Lick) get capitalized.
8. Titles of books, movies, magazines, newspapers, articles, songs, plays and works of art
This one’s a little confusing. Articles, prepositions, and conjunctions are not generally capitalized
in title case, only principal words are. However, the first letter of a work of art is always
capitalized even if it's an article, preposition or conjunction. For example: The Glass Menagerie, A
Few Good Men, Of Mice and Men. The last word of these titles always receives a capital too (Fools
Rush In).
9. The first letter in a sentence
The last two rules are easy. Always capitalize the first letter of a sentence. If the sentence is a
quotation within a larger sentence, capitalize it, but only if it’s a complete sentence. If it’s merely
a phrase that fits neatly into the larger sentence, it does not require capitalization. Study the
following two examples for clarification:
 The waiter said, “My manager will be here shortly,” but he never came.
 The waiter told us that his manager would “be here shortly,” but he never came.
10. The pronoun I
It’s only necessary to capitalize other pronouns when they begin a sentence, but "I" is always
capitalized.

Remembering the Rules

How can you possibly remember all these rules? Well, first of all, you should ask yourself three
questions:
 Is this the first letter in a sentence? If the answer is yes, capitalize.
 Is this the pronoun I? If yes, capitalize.
 Am I using a name that someone gave to this thing or person? If yes, capitalize.
And if you want to remember all the specific categories, try memorizing one of the following
sentences.
 “For Bob Barker, the price is sometimes wrong,” Mom says.
 Susan Sarandon bought my wife fancy toilet paper in Boston.
The first letter of each word stands for a category:
 F - First letter in a sentence
 B - Buildings (and other man-made structures)
 B - Borders (of regions, states, countries, etc.)
 T - Titles
 P - People
 I-I
 S - Schools
 W - Water
 M - Mountains
 S - Streets