Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions [Lesson]
Nicole Hagstrom-Schmidt
Overview and Description
These worksheets are designed to help students practice the placement of the proper punctuation between independent clauses, amongst many other grammar skills. These worksheets are designed to supplement previously generated lessons rather than as a stand-alone lesson.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this lesson, students will
- analyze example sentences to determine whether a comma is needed before the coordinating conjunction based on the presence of independent clauses.
The Rule
Place a comma before a coordinating conjunction that joins two independent clauses.
Definitions
Coordinating Conjunction: A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins similar grammatical units of equal rank (such as two nouns or three phrases). There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: and, but, or, nor, yet, so, and for. Commonly, you will use “and,” “but,” “or,” and “so” in technical writing.
Independent Clause: A clause is a grammatical unit that contains a subject and a verb. Depending on their function in a sentence, clauses can be dependent or independent. An independent clause is a clause that can stand all on its own. In essence, it is a complete sentence—or it could be if it were removed from a larger sentence. When searching for independent clauses, simply ask: “Is this clause a complete sentence?” If so, the clause is independent.
Examples
Example 1: “Your listeners have not seen the graphics and will not be able to linger over it” (Markel and Selber 588).
Explanation:
Notice that this example does not have a comma before the coordinating conjunction “and.” This is because the second clause “will not be able to linger over it” is not independent. Its subject (Your listeners) is stated in the first clause.
Example 2: “If [readers] can’t complete [a task]—or they do complete it, but they don’t achieve the expected outcome—they’ll be unhappy” (Markel and Selber 568).
Explanation:
This example is two independent clauses parenthetically embedded within another sentence using long dashes (or em dashes). Notice that the rule still applies with “they do complete it” and “they don’t achieve the expected outcome” being the two independent clauses combined with “but.”
Example 3: “Thank the interviewer for taking the time to see you, and emphasize your particular qualifications” (Markel and Selber 417).
Explanation:
This example is deceptive! In the above sample sentence, the independent clauses are written in the imperative mood, which means they are commands. In English, when a command is directly given, the subject (you) is understood and not stated.
References
Markel, Mike, and Stuart Selber. Technical Communication. 12th ed, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2017.
Downloadable Resources (Handout, Lessons)
Click here to download a Word Doc handout for this lesson:
Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions handout with examples
Click here to download a PowerPoint version of this lesson:
Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions lesson
Click here to download a PowerPoint version of a lesson on colons:
Click here to download a PowerPoint version of a lesson on dashes:
Click here to download a PowerPoint version of a lesson on relative clauses:
Attribution:
Hagstrom-Schmidt, Nicole. “Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions [Lesson].” Strategies, Skills and Models for Student Success in Writing and Reading Comprehension. College Station: Texas A&M University, 2024. This work is licensed with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
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