[Music] coordinating conjunctions are small words that connect two independent parts of a sentence we can remember them with the acronym Fanboys for and nor but or yet so take a minute and memorize them if you know these words you'll avoid a lot of comma errors Fanboys are connectors and here are some notes on punctuation if Fanboys are connecting two words or phrases you don't have to use a comma between them the office party will feature cupcakes and lobster commas are also not required if the Fanboy connects two verb phrases we can either order Lobster or stay within our budget if the Fanboys are connecting items in a series use commas between each item the accounting department will probably recommend cupcakes celery sticks and water if the Fanboys connect independent clauses however insert a comma after the first clause and before the Fanboy Jane will bake some decoy cupcakes and Larry will sneak in the lobster remember that an independent clause is basically just a sentence and you can't Mash two sentences into one sentence without something between them that's when you get runon sentences divide them using one of the seven Fanboys now there are lots of subordinating conjunctions but there are only seven coordinating conjunctions The Fanboys remember that coordinating conjunctions connect Clauses of equal strength and when they do they need a comma Casey is an introvert yet he actually likes office parties do these Fanboys need commas practice punctuating these examples office parties tend to be boring awkward or awesome yes use commas in a series let's hope Larry and the boss don't get into a fight over the lobster and is a fanboy but it's connecting two nouns no comma Casey loves cupcakes but he doesn't like lobster the Fanboy butt is connecting two independent clauses use a comma Larry breeds genetically modified lobsters after he finishes his workday no comma needed here after isn't one of the fan Bo it's a subordinating conjunction not a coordinating one so learn the Fanboys and use them [Music] confidently