Commas Before Joining Words
Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, yet) when joining two independent clauses in a compound sentence
Teaching approaches
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1 approach
When your child joins two complete thoughts with a word like "but" or "so" — like "I wanted to go, but it was raining" — do they put a comma before that joining word?
Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, or, so, yet) when joining two independent clauses in a compound sentence
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Check understanding
- Place a comma before the coordinating conjunction in a compound sentence, e.g. 'I wanted to go outside, but it was raining'
- Distinguish compound sentences (two independent clauses) from simple sentences with compound predicates, e.g. 'She sang and danced' needs no comma but 'She sang a song, and he played the piano' does
- Edit writing to insert missing commas before coordinating conjunctions in compound sentences
“When your child joins two complete thoughts with a word like "but" or "so" — like "I wanted to go, but it was raining" — do they put a comma before that joining word?”
Curriculum record
- Type
- Procedural
- Subject
- English
- Domain
- Grammar & Punctuation
- Age range
- Ages 9–11
Standards