Language Center Program, Writing Tips
Volunteer State Community College | Division of Humanities
Coordinating conjunctions are small words, each three letters or less, that are used to join two sentences; connecting ideas (expressed as complete sentences) with a coordinating conjunction and a comma indicates that the ideas are closely related and of equal importance. There are only seven coordinating conjunctions: "for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "so," and "yet." "So" and "yet" do NOT always function as coordinating conjunctions: when "so" is understood to mean "so that," it is NOT a coordinating conjunction, and when "yet" refers to time (e.g., She hasn't arrived yet.) it is NOT a coordinating conjunction.
An easy way to remember the coordinating conjunctions is FAN BOYS: For And Nor But Or Yet So
