Hey, everyone, welcome to another English grammar lesson. Today we're going to be covering
commas with FANBOYS conjunctions.
So “FANBOYS” is an acronym for the words "for,” “and,”
“nor,” “but,” “or,” “yet,” and “so." And the idea of a “conjunction”
simply means that these words join things together. FANBOYS conjunctions can be used
to join two parts of a single sentence together, or they can be used to join two completely
different sentences together. Let's take a look… "We will win or lose." So, here we
have the FANBOYS conjunction "or," right? And it's joining "we will win" with "lose."
Now, “we will win” is a sentence, but "lose"—the part after the conjunction—is
not a sentence. So here, the conjunction “or” is just combining two parts of a single sentence.
These are not two full sentences being combined here—just two different parts of one sentence.
And because of that, because we do not have two full sentences, we do not need a comma.
But what about this: "We will win or we will lose"? Now, same conjunction: “or,” but
here we actually have two full sentences. “We will win” is a sentence, and “we
will lose” is a sentence. So, unlike the first example, where we were just combining
two parts of a sentence, here we're combining two complete sentences. And when you combine
two complete sentences with a FANBOYS conjunction, you need a comma, and that comma goes at the
end of the word before the conjunction. So, here's the process: First, find the FANBOYS
conjunction. Pretty obvious, right? Second, look on both sides of that conjunction. If
the part before the conjunction is a sentence and the part after the conjunction is a sentence,
then you need a comma; otherwise, you don't. So, you only need a comma if there are two
full sentences being joined up. Let's try a few… "I like swimming but I'm not very
good at it." Step one: find the conjunction. Should be “but.” Step two: look on both
sides. Let's go to the first side. “I like swimming.” That's a sentence. It's short,
and it's simple, but it is a sentence. Now, let's look at the other side. "I'm not very
good at it." Also a sentence. So, since we have two complete sentences joined by this
conjunction, we need a comma, and that comma goes at the end of the word before the conjunction.
Take a look at this one: "We went to the store and to the mall." Okay, as always, find that
conjunction (should be “and”). And then look on both sides. The first side says, "We
went to the store." Is that a sentence? Yes. Now, what about the other side? "To the mall."
Is that a sentence? No, it’s not. So, since we don't have two full sentences here, we
do not need a comma. This sentence is just fine as it is. Two more… "Sarah woke up
late so she missed the bus." Okay, find the conjunction. Should be "so." Now, look on
both sides: "Sarah woke up late." That’s a sentence. "She missed the bus." Also a sentence.
So, since we've got two complete sentences here, joined by this FANBOYS, we need a comma.
One more… "I prefer to win or not play at all." Conjunction is... “or.” Okay, so,
first part: "I prefer to win." That’s a sentence. Second part: "Not play at all."
Oh, not a sentence. So, no comma. Awesome. So, just remember, if you are combining two
full sentences with a FANBOYS conjunction, you need a comma, and that comma goes at the
end of the word before the conjunction. I’ve seen a lot of people over the years try to
put that comma at the end of the conjunction itself. That's wrong; do not do that. So,
just to recap, if you're combining two complete sentences with a FANBOYS conjunction, you
need a comma. If you don't have two complete sentences, you don’t need a comma. Cool!
Well, whether you came here for a refresher or are just now learning this stuff for the
first time, I hope this video helped. Be sure to check out the free practice down in the
description, and—uh—we’ll see you next time. Thanks.