Parts 1 and 2 of the comma posts talked about the series, or Oxford, comma. A series is a listing of three or more words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. This post talks about using commas with compound sentences.
A compound sentence consists of two sentences joined together with either a semicolon or with a comma and a conjunction.
You can join two sentences together with a semicolon if the two sentences are closely related to each other. That is a decision for you to make. (You never have to use the semicolon to join sentences, though.) For example
- I am moving to Southern California; my sister lives in Northern California.
If you have been listening to me or reading my books , you probably know that you cannot join two sentences with a comma unless you also use a coordinating conjunction. The most common of these is and. However, there are six more of these conjunctions, and together they spell FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Here are examples of compound sentences using each of the FANBOYS. They are not interchangeable, and which one you use depends on the sentence.
- I am moving to Southern California, and I am taking my three dogs with me.
- I am moving to Southern California, for I don’t like the cold weather of Chicago.
- I do not like the snow, nor do I like the cold weather.
- I am moving to Southern California, but the rest of my family is staying in Chicago.
- I am moving to Southern California, or I am going to freeze to death!
- I don’t like the cold weather, yet I love the culture of Chicago.
- I don’t want to shovel any more snow, so I am moving to Southern California.
Notice that there is no T in the word FANBOYS; therefore the word then is NOT a conjunction:
- I am moving to Southern California, then I am throwing my snow shovel away! WRONG
- I am moving to Southern California, and then I am throwing my snow shovel away! RIGHT
Of course these coordinating conjunctions are used to connect words, phrases, and clauses too; they are not just used in compound sentences. For example
- Jack and Jill went up the hill. (connecting two words – no comma with two words)
- Do you want fish or chicken? (connecting two words)
- Did he go into the garage or across the street? (connecting two phrases – no comma with two phrases)
- She didn’t talk to me either before the movie started or after our friends left. (connecting two clauses – no comma)
So generally you do not use a comma when there are just two words, phrases, or clauses. However, sometimes with but or yet you can, because the two things are opposites. But that is another blog post!
- She was tiny, yet fierce.
- The movie was good, but violent.
Let’s get back to the comma in compound sentences . . . here are two things to remember:
If the compound sentence is really short, you do not need a comma. The comma is mainly for ease of reading.
- I came home and I went to bed.
- She sang and she danced.
Make sure your sentence is really compound before you use the comma. That is, the text before the conjunction and the text after the conjunction are both complete sentences with subjects and verbs. If the text after the conjunction is not a complete sentence, there is no comma.
- I went to college in Florida, and I attended graduate school in California. (compound)
- I went to college in Florida and attended graduate school in California. (not compound – no subject after the and)
- Are you going to vacation in Europe this year, or are you going to stay home?
- Are you going to vacation in Europe this year or just stay home?
NEWS:
You might be interested in the news release The Grammar Diva put out this week.
NEXT WEEK:
Why, a Halloween post, of course!
RE: “I am moving to Southern California, then I am throwing my snow shovel away! WRONG”
There are an awful lot of rules here. Let me tell you how novelists look at this stuff. Does it feel good? Then do it.
That quote above is dialogue and most people would say it the way that is supposedly wrong. Most writers would write it the way that is supposedly wrong. I would put the “and” in there only if I wanted to slow down the dialogue, not because the rule is yes or no. (“…and then” becomes a sort of literary device, much like one we see a lot when a sentence starts “So, …” That comma may or may not be required by grammar. But many people sense that it sets up what comes next quite dramatically.)
The nice thing about being a novelist is that you are pretty much the final arbiter of your own grammar. So I weigh the various choices. I think how each choice sounds in real-life dialogue. And I go with what sounds most natural.
Sometimes the choice is very difficult.
( I have four novels available now on the Internet. See my literary site Lit4u.com.)
Here is a funny parallel. In one of these books, a crime novel, I had the same construction many times, X comes to the door, X moves across the street. The editor wanted to change these verbs to “walks.” I had to think about this for a few weeks. Finally, I told the editor that tough guys don’t walk. Old people walk. Tough guys can run, jump, shift, spring, and other active verbs. But walking is the slowest thing a human being can do. I didn’t want my detective walking anywhere. That was just the sense I had of it, the feeling.
Thank you, Bruce, for the comment and the different perspective. When I am talking about rules, or standards, I am really talking about formal English. If you are writing a book proposal, I wouldn’t separate my sentences with no conjunction. As a novelist, whatever is truly dialogue and is in quotes, can be written however you want, I suppose. Narration and description are a different store, and editors and writers probably have differing opinions about what one. I know you probably don’t like semicolons in your novels, but if you use one of those rather than just a comma you are grammatically fine. But then, a semicolon might slow things down too much too….so, why even put the comma in that example above????? Just asking!
You might find this interesting: http://english-jack.blogspot.ca/2006/07/myth-of-fanboys.html
Brett – Thank you. I did find it very interesting. I agree with it in part. I do say in my post that if a sentence is short you don’t need the comma, so the comma is not always required. I also agree that yet and but are a little different because they often introduce something that is opposite, in which case you would use a comma.
Hi Arlene,
I like that you said, “You never have to use a semi-colon to join sentences. They just make sentences tooooo long! Similarly, I think that conjunctions do the same thing when they join two complete thoughts and they create another long sentence. I think that commas are best used with non-restrictive clauses. I hope you cover this point, if you haven’t already.
Sandra – Thank you for the comment. Wanted to make sure everyone knew semicolons to separate sentences are always optional, even when the sentences are closely related. Sometimes, long sentences are good, as long as they are clear. A mix of different sentence lengths is best. I will b covering commas with restrictive and nonassertive clauses in another comma post.
love this … conjunction junction what’s your function; hooking up words and phrases and clauses! 🙂
Ha! I got so tired of my students singing that theme song from the video!