1. Compound Sentences and Commas
Using Commas Correctly

2. Why are we learning this?
Observed weakness in writing
“Comma Placement Epidemic”

3. What’s in a Sentence? a subject a predicate a complete thought
A complete sentence needs three things:
a subject
a predicate
a complete thought

4. What’s a subject? The subject is who or what the sentence is about.
Examples:
The audience littered the theater floor with spilled popcorn and torn wrappers.
The sun beat down on the exhausted team.

5. What is the predicate?
The predicate tells something about the subject.
Examples:
The audience littered the theatre floor with spilled popcorn and torn wrappers.
My cousin never wanted to go out on the boat as a child.
He forgot to bring his homework to class.

6. Why does this matter?
Understanding subject and predicate helps improve your writing in a few ways:
avoid sentence fragments
combine sentences to create more interesting and complex writing
use commas correctly

7. Necessary Vocabulary
Simple sentence: contains one subject and one predicate
Independent clause: simple sentence; a unit that can stand by itself as a complete sentence
Dependent clause: a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate but does not express a complete thought

8. Creating Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is created when you join two or more independent clauses together using coordinating conjunctions.

9. Coordinating Conjunctions
For
And
Nor
But Or
Yet So

10. FANBOYS OR ND OR UT R ET O

11. Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions
Rules:
Use a comma before the conjunction when it is followed by a complete sentence.
Do not use a comma when the conjunction is not followed by a complete sentence.

12. Examples Paul didn’t pay for the trip yet he still gets to go.
We left early but arrived late.
Debra tries very hard in school so she can go to college.
David want to play guitar and Andrea wants to play piano.
We could go camping or fishing.