Fanboys

You have already learned how "and" can be used to create a compound sentence (a sentence with more than one clause).

"And" is a coordinating conjunction. In all, there are seven coordinating conjunctions that can be used to splice (join) clauses. Together, these words are often called "fanboys", because fanboys is a mnemonic device (memory trick) that can help you remember what they are:

Note:

• Of all the fanboys, and, but, and so are by far the most common.
• "Nor" is fairly rare, and—because it is only used in negative sentences—it behaves a bit differently than the other fanboys. Mostly, in this course, we will pretend that "nor" does not exist.
• The word "for" can also be tricky. Most of the time when you see "for", it is acting like a preposition. But remember that "for" can also be used as an old-fashioned way of saying "because".
  • 9 times out of 10, "for" is a preposition (followed by a noun phrase).
  • Only when "for" means "because" is it acting like a fanboy (coordinating conjunction). When "for" is acting like a fanboy, it is always followed by a complete clause.
• The word "but" can also be tricky. 99 times out of 100, "but" is a fanboy (coordinating conjunction). But every once in a while, it acts like a preposition.
  • If "but" is followed by a complete clause, it is acting like a fanboy.
  • If "but" is followed by a noun phrase (and only a noun phrase), then it's acting like a preposition. Example: "I like everyone but him".

Study the examples below:

	Compound Sentences Using Fanboys
1	I hate to waste food, for it is expensive.	compound
2	The soup is hot, and the bread is delicious.	compound
3	Rocky doesn't like fish, nor does he like pork.	compound
4	They gamble, but they don't smoke.	compound
5	I will order the fish, or I will order the steak.	compound
6	The final is tomorrow, yet Tom refuses to study.	compound
7	Sara's car is in the shop, so she will need a ride home.	compound

 

Instructions for the Quiz

Determine the type of sentence.

• If the sentence has only one clause, the answer is (A) simple.
• If the sentence has more than one clause, the answer is (B) compound .

Note: For this quiz, the answer will never be C, D, or E, because we have not yet studied those sentence patterns.

Example:

1. I looked for the book, but I could not find it.
	simple
	compound
	hybrid
	complex
	compound-complex

In this example, "I looked for the book" is the first clause, and "I could not find it" is the second clause, and the two clauses are joined together by one of the fanboys ("but"). Therefore, the answer is compound.

Quiz