We know that in English grammar, there are mainly eight parts of speech. These parts of speech are the main elements which when combined, produce different types of clauses. Further, when these clauses are combined, we get different and unique sentences that convey meaningful and complete thoughts.
There are various types of clauses in English grammar. Independent clauses and dependent clauses are the types of clauses. However, when these clauses are combined with one another, we get other different types of clauses. In this post, we will discuss one such clause, the coordinate clauses. In a general sense, coordinate clauses are the result gained from the combination of two independent clauses connected by a coordinate conjunction.
However, there are several rules and ways of producing a coordinate clause. Refer to the pointers below to have a clearer idea.
What are Coordinate Clauses?
By definition, we can state that coordinate clauses are those types of clauses that are introduced by one of the coordinate conjunctions in a sentence. These clauses are basically a group of words that contain at least one subject and a predicate and have a complete meaning in themselves.
Thus, in simple words, we can define coordinate clauses as the outcome produced when two independent clauses of equal importance are joined or connected together by a coordinating conjunction. And by coordinate conjunction, we mean the words such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so. These are commonly known as the FANBOYS.
In short, when an independent clause is connected to another independent clause of the same grammatical rank through coordinating conjunction, we create a coordinate clause.
Let us look at some examples to learn better:
- He ran to the store for he finished all his notebooks.
- You can go and watch the movies, or you can do the dishes for tonight.
- He is a young man, yet he seems very gloomy and sad.
As we can see, the bolded words are introducing another independent clause of the same rank in a sentence that already has one independent clause present. Such a clause is said to be a coordinate clause.
Disconnected Coordinate Clause
Sometimes, we see that most people tend to start a sentence with coordinate conjunction. They begin their clause with coordinate conjunction instead of continuing with the independent clause that is already present. This is especially the case with spoken English.
Someone might say something like, “I love drinking coffee and I also love having tea sometimes.” This is very common, and for a fact, it is not grammatically wrong.
It happens mainly when a person has an additional thought or idea connected to the previous thought that has already been spoken. Since there remains no room to refer back to the previous clause, we link them using coordinate conjunction at the beginning of the next sentence. Hence, they are said to be disconnected coordinate clauses.
Disconnected coordinate clauses are considered to be informal texts more than formal. So, they are usually used in informal writing and dialogue.
