Use Coordinate Connectors Correctly

Skill

Use Coordinate Connectors Correctly

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When you have two clauses in an English sentence, you must connect the two clauses correctly. One way to connect two clauses is to use and, but, or, so, or yet between the clauses.

Tom is singing, and Paul is dancing.
Tom is tall, but Paul is short.
Tom must write the letter, or Paul will do it.
Tom told a joke, so Paul laughed.
Tom is tired, yet he is not going to sleep.

In each of these examples, there are two clauses that are correctly joined with a coordinate conjunction and, but, or, so, or yet, and a comma (,).

The following example shows how this sentence pattern could be tested in structure questions on the TOEFL test.

Example from the Paper and Computer TOEFL® Tests

A power failure occurred, the lamps went out. (A) then (B) so (C) later (D) next

In this example you should notice quickly that there are two clauses, a power failure occurred and the lamps went out. This sentence needs a connector to join the two clauses. Then, later, and next are not connectors, so answers (A), (C), and (D) are not correct. The best answer is answer (B) because so can connect two clauses.

The following chart lists the coordinate connectors and the sentence pattern used with them:

COORDINATE CONNECTORS
and but or so yet
S V, coordinate connector S V
She laughed, but she wanted to cry.

Exercise

Complete the following exercises to reinforce what you’ve learned:

EXERCISE 6: Each of the following sentences contains more than one clause. Underline the subjects once and the verbs twice. Circle the connectors. Then indicate if the sentences are correct (C) or incorrect (I). C

  1. _C__ The software should be used on a laptop computer, (and) this computer is a laptop.
  2. _I__ The rain clouds can be seen in the distance, (but) no has fallen.
  3. ____ They are trying to sell their house, it has been on the market for two months.
  4. ____ So the quality of the print was not good, I changed the typewriter ribbon.
  5. ____ The lifeguard will warn you about the riptides, or she may require you to get out of the water.
  6. ____ You should have finished the work yesterday, yet is not close to being finished today.
  7. ____ The phone rang again and again, so the receptionist was not able to get much work done.
  8. ____ The missing wallet was found, but the cash and credit cards had been removed.
  9. ____ Or you can drive your car for another 2,000 miles, you can get it fixed.
  10. ____ The chemist was awarded the Nobel Prize, he flew to Europe to accept it.

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