Coordinating conjunctions

The most common and simplest type of conjunction is known as a coordinating conjunction, and there aren’t that many of them:

And

But

For

Yet

Nor

Notice how they’re all quite short words. One way you can remember these is with the letter sequence ‘fanboys’ (known as a mnemonic):

(F)or(A)nd(N)or(B)ut(O)r(Y)et(S)o

So here’s a coordinating conjunction in typical use:

I will work the midnight shift, but I want the next week off work.

See how the conjunction ‘but’ neatly connects the two clauses ‘I will work the midnight shift’ and ‘I want the next week off work’?

When the two clauses are independent (which means each clause could form its own sentence), there is usually a comma placed between the two clauses, like in the above sentence. This isn’t always the case; with short independent clauses you don’t have to use a comma:

I will work but I need time off.

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