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Getting Smarter through Language

Conjunctions “And,” “But,” “So,” and “Or” | (A-Level, Basic) Page 1

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 basic

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intermediate

About Coordinating Conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions connect ideas or sentences. At the same time, they express the relationship between the ideas.

In this lesson, you will learn four common coordinating conjunctions: “and,” “but,” “so,” and “or.” You will also learn when you need a comma before a coordinating conjunction.

“And” — Adding or Putting Things Together

We use the coordinating conjunction “and" to combine two sentences or ideas. “And” is like the plus sign (+) in mathematics: 1 + 2 = 3.

When you use “and” to connect ideas, you show that you are just adding the ideas together — or putting them together. For example, examine the following ideas:

Mark is watching TV.

Patricia is reading a book.

You can put both ideas together into one sentence using “and.”

Mark is watching TV, and Patricia is reading a book.

Examples using “and”

John works in an office, and Pedro works at a school.

The cat is sleeping, and the dog is playing.

My brother lives in Chicago, and and my sister lives in New York City.

Michigan is in the north, and Florida is in the south of the United States.

Jack likes watching dramas, and Peter likes watching comedies.

Up Next: "But" — Showing a Contrast or Difference

Continue the lesson to learn about the coordinating conjunction “but.”