Coordinating conjunctions are "and," "but," "or," or "yet." They are used in sentences to connect similar ideas.
You can eat your cake with a spoon or fork. My dog enjoys being bathed but hates getting his nails trimmed. Bill refuses to eat peas, nor will he touch carrots. I hate to waste a drop of gas, for it is very expensive these days.
FANBOYS is a mnemonic device, which stands for the coordinating conjunctions: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, and So. These words, when used to connect two independent clauses (two complete thoughts), must be preceded by a comma.
When two separate clauses are joined by a coordinating conjunction, a comma is used before the coordinating conjunction (unless the two independent clauses are very short). Commas should never be used after conjunctions that are not followed by non-essential elements.
A coordinating conjunction, also called a coordinator, links parts of a sentence. This could be two independent (main) clauses, two noun phrases, adjectives, adverbials etc of equal importance. They include: for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so, There's a mnemonic for remembering them: FANBOYS.
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