CHAPTER 3

SENTENCE STRUCTURE 2

COMPOUND SENTENCES WITH “and, but, so, and or”

A compound sentence is composed of two simple sentences joined together

There are seven coordinating conjunctions in English: and, but, so, or, for, nor,
and yet. Rules for using coordinating conjunctions:
Rules Examples
a. Use “and” to join sentences 1. She was often sad, and sometimes she didn’t
that are alike. eat her food.
2. Biki is driving the car and he is listening the
music.

b. Use “but” to join sentences 1. Men may study harder, but they may not study
that are opposite or show
as regularly as women do.
contrast.
2. I like swimming, but I don’t like playing
tennis.
3. She was hungry, but she didn’t have time to
eat any breakfast.
4. I can play badminton, but I do not have a
racket.
5. We have finished our English homework, but
most of them are mistake.
c. “yet” has approximately the 1. We have studied English for six years, yet we
same meaning as but; that is, could not speak English fluently.
it shows contrast or joins 2. Tomi is a rich handsome man, yet Cindy does
opposites. Use yet when the not love him.
second part of the sentence 3. Bayu likes swimming very much, yet he does
says something unexpected not like taking a bath.
or surprising 4. Luqman does not like studying English well,
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 yet he wins the English debate competition.
5. Esi does not like listening the music, yet she
likes singing pop song.
6. Praja never study hard, yet most of them get
good marks.
7. Praja never do the middle examination well,
yet they pass the examination.

c. Use ”so” to join sentences 1. She was lazy student, so she could
when the second sentence not pass the examination.
expresses the result of
2. Slamet always study hard, so he can do his
something described in the
first sentence. test.
3. Dea is a very kind girl, so everybody loves
her.
4. You are IPDN’s students, so you will be civil
servants.
5. IPDN campus is located near two big
supermarkets, so it is very easy to do their
shopping.

d. Use “or” to join sentences 1. She could take a taxi to school, or she could
that give choices or walk.
alternatives. The two 2. We should limit the amount of fat in our diets,
sentences/clauses express or we risk getting heart disease.
alternative possibilities.) 3. You must study hard, or you can not do your
examination.

e. “for” has the same meaning 1. It is not easy to be praja, for it needs great effort
as because; use for to to pass the examination.
introduce a reason or cause. 2. Women live longer than men, for they take
The second clause gives the better care of their health.
reason for the first clause. 3. Muda praja could not eat in KSP, for they are
the youngest level in IPDN.
4. People who believe in Hindu religion do not eat
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 beef, for they believe that cows are sacred.
5.The lecturer was very disappointed, for Praja
did not study hard.

f. “nor” means “ not this and 1. She didn’t talk, nor did she move. (she didn’t
not that”; use nor to join two talk. She didn’t move.)
negative sentences. 2. Praja do not smoke, nor do they drink alcohol.
(Praja don’t smoke. They don’t drink alcohol)
3. Senior could not hit the junior, nor could they
give the physical punishment.
(Senior could not hit the junior. They could
not give the physical punishment)
4. They did not play football, nor did they watch
television.
(They did not play football. They did not
watch television).

Note:
1. Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction in compound sentences only. Do
not use a comma when joining compound elements in simple sentences.
Example:
a. Compound sentence: (comma)
Blancette was often sad, and sometimes she didn’t eat her food.
b. Simple sentence with a compound verb: (no comma)
Blancette was often sad and sometimes didn’t eat her food.
2. The comma is sometimes omitted in short compound sentences. Short compound
sentence: (comma may be omitted).
e.g. She shouted for help but nobody heard her.

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3. The word orders after nor is like a question. The helping verb (is, does, did, can,
will, etc) comes before the subject or the part of the sentence introduced by nor.

MONSIEUR SEGUIN’S GOAT.

As retold by Sabrina Giner.

Along time ago in the middle of the Alps lived an old man with his goat,

Blancette. She was a wonderful white goat and was very kind to the master, Monsieur

Seguin. They had lived together for many years.

Blancette was always fastened to a tree. She was often sad, and sometimes she

didn’t eat her food. Every day, she looked at the big mountains and dreamed of being

free to explore them. One day, she asked her master for more freedom. She said, ”You

can tie me with a longer rope, but Blancette was still sad. A few days later, he built a

special enclosure. At first, Blancette was very happy about this decision, but soon the

enclosure appeared very small in front of the big mountains. One summer night,

Blanquette decided to leave for the mountains, so the next morning, she jumped out of

the enclosure and ran away.

The fields seemed so vast to her. “I am free,” she said. She ate many varieties of

plants, and she enjoyed meeting new friends. All day, she ran in the Alps until the sun

set behind the hills.

Blancette was surprised when the moon appeared in the sky. Then she became

afraid because she remembered that the old man had told how dangerous the night is in

the mountains. She heard a strange noise, so she decided to go back to her enclosure.

She walked for a long time but couldn’t find the road. Finally, she became very tired, so

she decided to stop. She tried to rest, but her fear prevented her from sleeping. In the

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darkness, she saw a shape. It was wolf! They fought for a few minutes, and Blancette’s

leg was hurt. She shouted for help but nobody heard her. The wolf ate her, and the poor

old man never saw his little goat again.

Blancette wanted to be free, but freedom can be dangerous when we disobey.

PRACTICE: Compound sentences with and, but, so, and, or.

B. Decide which of the following are compound sentences and which are simple
sentences. Write CS or SS in the space at the left. Then add commas to the
compound sentences.
Omusubi Kororin
A Japanese Folktale
As retold by Masako Inoune

SS
1. Once upon a time, an old couple lived in the countryside.
2. One day, the old man went to work in the forest and took his usual lunch of
three rice balls.
3. During his lunch, he dropped a rice ball and it rolled into a hole in the
ground.
4. He heard happy singing coming from the hole so he dropped the other
two rice balls into it.
5. A little mouse came out of the hole and invited him in.
6. Inside the hole, some mice were having a party and one of them said to him,
’Thank you for the delicious rice balls.”
7. They invited him to join them so he did.
8. After a while, the mice told him to choose a box as a reward for his
generosity.

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9. He could choose a big box or he could choose a small box.

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