Coordinating and Subordinating Conjunctions

Learning Objectives:

  • Identify coordinating and subordinating conjunctions and punctuate them correctly.

LESSON
Varying the structure of the sentencesA group of words, phrases, or clauses that expresses a complete thought. A complete sentence has these characteristics: a capitalized first word, a subject and a predicate, and end punctuation, such as a period (.), question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!). you use in your writing is a great way to make it more interesting. While using a plain subjectIn grammar, a part of speech that refers to the “doer” in the sentence (who or what). A subject is usually a person, place or thing./verbA part of speech that refers to what is happening, the action, what the subject is doing, or how it is “being.” Examples include: sleep, to be, think. sentence formula over and over again is not incorrect, it is also not good writing. It may bore the reader, and perhaps more importantly, it does not allow you to express nuancesSubtle differences in meaning and style of expression. in meaning.

Consider this example:

This research examined the practices of summer sites serving migrant students. Our results indicate that there is great variance among the sites. Guidance and training originate from the central office at the Department of Education and Learning. The leaders of each site decide what to do with this information. Some sites that are in close proximity act cooperatively. They share resources. They coordinate special activities. Other sites draw mainly from internal resources. They might also look for help from the immediate community. There are resources available at the federal level. Few respondents seemed aware of them.

The repetitious sentence structure makes what might otherwise be an interesting topic very dull. However, you can avoid this by incorporating coordinating and subordinating conjunctions into your sentences. Coordinating conjunctionsPart of speech that connects words, phrases, and independent clauses. The acronym FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so—can help you remember coordinating conjunctions. are often used to combine independent clausesPart of a sentence that contains a subject and a predicate and can stand on its own as a complete sentence. Example independent clause: The boy ate the freshly picked apple with delight. The subject is the boy, the predicate is the verb ate, plus the modifiers the freshly picked apple with delight. into compound sentencesOne of the four sentence types that is composed of two or more independent clauses joined together using proper punctuation.. Each clause could still stand alone as a sentence, but they are joined into one. Coordinating conjunctions are also used to join ideas that are of equal importance to reduce the repetition of words. Subordinating conjunctionsPart of speech that connects dependent clauses. A subordinating conjunction comes at the beginning of a dependent clause and shows the relationship between the clauses it connects. Examples of subordinating conjunctions include: after, if, while, unless. are used to join independent clauses to make complex sentencesOne of the four sentence types that is composed of an independent clause and a dependent clause.. Complex sentences have one independent and one dependent clausePart of a sentence that contains a subject and a verb but is unable to stand on its own because it is incomplete in some way. Example of a dependent clause: Because it was a freshly picked apple, the boy ate it with delight. In this sentence, Because it was a freshly picked apple is a dependent clause. It has a subject (it) and a verb (was), but it cannot stand on its own without the second part of the sentence..

Coordinating Conjunctions

To remember the words that are coordinating conjunctions, think of FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so). When used to create compound sentences, coordinating conjunctions need commas(,) A punctuation mark used to group and separate information in sentences.. To determine whether or not you need a comma before a coordinating conjunction, follow these steps.

Step 1: Find the FANBOYS, i.e., coordinating conjunctions.

Example: I followed the assembly directions but the bookshelf didn't look right.

Step 2: Read the words before the FANBOYS. Ask yourself whether it is a sentence or not.

Yes, I followed the assembly directions is a sentence.

Step 3: Read the words after the FANBOYS. Ask yourself whether it is a sentence or not.

Yes, the bookshelf didn't look right is a sentence.

Step 4: If you answered yes to questions 2 and 3, add a comma before the FANBOYS. If you answered no to either question 2 or 3, do not add a comma before the FANBOYS.

Corrected example: I followed the assembly directions, but the bookshelf didn't look right.

Once you begin to use coordinating conjunctions, your writing will become less choppy and more interesting to read. Let's look at the paragraph example above, but this time using coordinating conjunctions.

This research examined the practices of summer sites serving migrant students. Our results indicate that there is great variance among the sites. Guidance and training originate from the central office at the Department of Education and Learning, but the leaders of each site decide what to do with this information. Some sites that are in close proximity act cooperatively. They share resources and coordinate special activities. Other sites draw mainly from internal resources or seek help from the immediate community. There are resources available at the federal level, yet few respondents seemed aware of them.

You can see that combining sentences made the paragraph flow better. The writing became easier and more interesting to read.

Subordinating Conjunctions

Subordinating conjunctions are used to create a special type of dependent clause called a subordinating clauseA type of dependent clause that begins with a subordinating conjunction. Example: After the game. The subject: the game, is modified by the subordinating conjunction: After.. The most common subordinating conjunctions are:

after

even if

that

whereas

although

even though

though

wherever

as

if

unless

whether

as if

if only

until

while

because

rather than

when

 

before

since

where

 

 

You can use subordinating conjunctions and clauses to combine sentences and make them less choppy. You can also use them to fix run-on sentencesA grammatical error that occurs when a sentence has two or more independent clauses joined together incorrectly. and comma splicesType of run-on sentence that occurs when two independent clauses (two complete sentences) are joined with a comma instead of a period, semicolon, or comma with a conjunction.. All subordinating clauses consist of a subordinating conjunction, a nounA part of speech that refers to a person, place, or thing. Examples include: swimmer, lake, sunscreen. or pronounA part of speech that substitutes for a noun or noun phrase. Examples include: I, he, you, they., and a verb (never the subject and main verb of the sentence). They cannot stand alone and are considered dependent clauses because they do not include a complete thought. They must be joined to an independent clause.

Here are some examples of subordinating clauses:

To determine whether not you need a comma with a subordinating clause, follow these steps.

Step 1: Identify the subordinating clause.

Until a resolution is reached the discussion will continue.

Step 2: Is the subordinating clause at the start of the sentence? If so, add a comma after it. If not, do not use a comma.

Subordinating clause at the start of the sentence:
Until a resolution is reached, the discussion will continue.

Subordinating clause at the end of the sentence:
The discussion will continue until a resolution is reached.

Look back once more at the paragraph from the beginning of the lesson. You have seen it once using coordinating conjunctions. Now let's see what it looks like with subordinating conjunctions.

This research examined the practices of summer sites serving migrant students. Our results indicate that there is great variance among the sites. Although guidance and training originate from the central office at the Department of Education and Learning, the leaders of each site decide what to do with this information. Some sites that are in close proximity act cooperatively, whether by sharing resources or by coordinating activities. Other sites draw mainly from internal resources before looking for help from the immediate community. Even though there are resources available at the federal level, few respondents seemed aware of them.

Of course, you should try to use both coordinating and subordinating clauses in your writing order to make it fresh and interesting.

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