oin words, phrases and clauses
FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES
A coordinator expresses a relationship (e.g., reason, addition, negation, contrast, option, contrary outcome, or result) between two like (same kind) words, phrases or clauses. Without coordinators, the reader is left to guess the relationship between two related sentences in a paragraph.
CLAUSE 1 CLAUSE / SENTENCE 2
FOR — REASON
Fans love to watch Anna.
She dances beautifully.
AND — ADDITION / CONJUNCTION
She is a graceful dancer.
People enjoy watching her.
NOR (NOT OR)
She hasn't taken dance lessons.
She doesn't need to.
BUT — CONTRAST
Her technique is unconventional.
The effect is striking.
OR — OPTION / ALTERNATIVE / DISJUNCTION
She can fill an audience with joy.
She can bring people to tears.
*YET — CONCESSION
Other dancers try to imitate her style.
They have not succeeded.
*SO — RESULT
She is talented.
She will attract fans for many years to come.
ONE COORDINATED CLAUSE
A coordinator joins two clauses of equal syntactic importance into one sentence and clarifies the relationship between the two parts. Adding coordinators to written or spoken English improves the flow of the words and the ability of the reader or listener to comprehend the content.
CLAUSE 1 COORDINATED CLAUSE 2
FOR — REASON
Fans love to watch Anna,
for¹ she dances beautifully.
"for the reason that"
AND — ADDITION
She is a graceful dancer,
and people enjoy watching her.
"also"
NOR (NOT OR)
She hasn't taken dance lessons,
nor does she need to.
"and not"
BUT — CONTRAST
Her technique is unconventional,
but the effect is striking.
"in contrast"
OR — OPTION / ALTERNATIVE
She can fill an audience with joy,
or she can bring people to tears.
"one of the two options"
*YET — CONCESSION
Other dancers try to imitate her style,
yet they have not succeeded.
"unexpected or surprising outcome"
*SO — RESULT
She is talented,
so she will attract fans for many years to come. (result)
In Context
WITHOUT COORDINATORS
Fans love to watch Anna. She dances beautifully. She is a graceful dancer. People enjoy watching her. She hasn't taken dance lessons. She doesn't need to. Her technique is unconventional. The effect is striking. She can fill an audience with joy. She can bring people to tears. Other dancers try to imitate her style. They have not succeeded. She is talented. She will attract fans for many years to come.
WITH COORDINATORS
Fans love to watch Anna, for¹ she dances beautifully. She is a graceful dancer, and people enjoy watching her. She hasn't taken dance lessons, nor does she need to. Her technique is unconventional, but the effect is striking. She can fill an audience with joy, or she can bring people to tears. Other dancers try to imitate her style, yet they have not succeeded. She is talented, so she will attract fans for many years to come.
GLOSSARY
audience (N) – a group of people who come to watch and listen to someone speaking or performing in public
bring to tears (expr.) – cause someone to feel deep emotion (cause to cry)
fan (N) – (1) something that creates a cool current of air; (2) a person who is an admirer, a follower; a sports fan
¹for – coordinator relating reason "because" (uncommon in US-Eng)
for many years to come (expression) – for a long time in the future
graceful (Adj) – moving in a smooth, attractive, pleasing way
imitate (V) – mimic, perform or act like
lines (N) – the artistic outline of the body (silhouette) in dance
succeed (V) – manage to do something that you desired to do
striking (Adj) — visually appealing; eye-catching
talent (N) – having a special ability to do something, as in the arts
tears (N) – a drop of salty liquid that comes out of the eyes when crying
technique (N) – training; skills in a particular art
unconventional (Adj) – not following the usual standards, individualistic
unique (Adj) – the only one, like no other
yet (adverb) – "up to now" "so far"; He hasn't arrived yet.
yet (connector) – unexpected outcome; contrary to expectation
FANBOYS is an acronym made from the first letter of each coordinator.
clause – an independent clause (traditional term for a clause that can stand alone as a sentence) | a finite clause (linguistic description) See Finite / Nonfinite.
concession (N) – admit that something does not logically fit with the previous statement; give away a point in an argument or in a game
contrary (Adj) – opposite in nature, character or reasoning; illogical; having an unexpected outcome See Cause-Effect Terms
contrast (N) – a difference, an unlikeness in comparison with something else
result (N) – a second action happens because another action happens first; effect
*for, yet and so share properties of both coordinators and subordinators. See coordinator vs. subordinator section below.
Also see Run-On Sentences, Clause / Fragment and Subject / Predicate.
Coordinators
Join like structures
Words, Phras