ACT English

5 types of compound sentences

1. Two separate independent clauses with periods

   1. Mary loves dogs. Andrew loves cats.

2. Comma + FANBOYS joining 2 independent clauses

   1. Mary loves dogs, and Andrew loves cats.

3. Semicolon between 2 independent clauses

   1. Mary loves dogs; Andrew loves cats.

   2. ***A Semicolon is the same as a period on the ACT***

4. Dependent clause followed by independent clause (USE A COMMA)

   1. While Mary loves dogs, Andrew loves cats

5. Independent clause straight into dependent clause (USES NO COMMAS)

   1. Mary loves dogs while Andrew loves cats

FANBOYS

F- For

A- And

N- Nor

B- But

O- Or

Y- Yet

S- So

Comma Splice

A comma by itself CANNOT be used to join two independent clauses

Commas - Comma + FANBOY

Use a comma and a FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join two independent clauses

Commas - Dependent clause followed by independent clause

If a sentence has a dependent clause followed by an independent clause, you must link these with a comma

Comma - Unnecessary Information

Commas are used to separate unnecessary info from the rest of the sentence. They can be before a comma, after a comma, or between commas

• SOMETIMES IF YOU CANNOT CROSS OUT THE INFORMATION FOR IT TO STILL BE SENSIBLE THE INFORMATION SHOULDNT BE SET APART BY ANY COMMAS

Comma - Listing

Commas are used when listing more than two items an with lists of multiple adjectives modifying the same noun