There’s also more than one way to join independent clauses. If the two clauses are short and there’s no risk of the sentence being misread, you can skip that comma: The story is more complex than that and more complex than I’ve laid out here.įor example, if you join independent clauses with one of the FANBOYS, you don’t always need a comma. We also know that one way to join independent clauses is with a comma and one of the FANBOYS.īut where FANBOYS fails is by claiming that these words are a definite list of coordinating conjunctions and that the way to join two independent clauses is to use a comma and one of the FANBOYS. What we do know is that for, so, and yet can join clauses the way and, but, nor, and or do. In other words, even the linguists aren’t sure what for, so, and yet are in this situation. For is similar to the subordinating conjunction because semantically (similar in meaning) but not syntactically (grammatically). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language notes that so and yet are more like conjunctive adverbs such as however. The final is tomorrow, yet Tom can’t seem to focus on studying. Sara’s car is in the shop, so she will need a ride home. The Girl Scouts considered their sale a success, for they had sold every box of cookies. If for, so, and yet aren’t coordinating conjunctions, what are they when they join clauses, as in:
![fanboys do not press the red button fanboys do not press the red button](https://venturebeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2327D-e1572537370560.jpeg)
Sometimes, though, mnemonic devices don’t give you the whole story.
![fanboys do not press the red button fanboys do not press the red button](https://static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Korra-Red-Lotus-Powers-Explained.png)
Maybe you still remember that it’s “ i before e except after c,” that ROY G BIV indicates the order of the colors of the rainbow, or that “every good boy deserves fudge” shows the order of the musical notes on the treble clef. Mnemonic devices can be a great way to remember something.