Why and how we should teach students to write compound sentences with the ‘FANBOYS’ coordinating conjunctions

To write well, students need to use three types of sentences: simple, compound, and complex.

A simple sentence is made up of one clause, also known as an “independent clause” because it can stand on its own. In Start Your Engines, we teach students to write simple sentences.

A compound sentence is made up of two, equally important, independent clauses joined using a coordinating conjunction or a punctuation mark (like a semicolon). 

Compound sentences help students to connect their thoughts: to express multiple similar ideas, contrast ideas, link causes and effects, provide more detail, and to write more efficiently, with more variation and less monotony. 

Students are expected to write compound sentences by Year 2. As soon as students can write simple sentences confidently, we teach them to write compound sentences with coordinating conjunctions. 

The acronym FANBOYS (‘for’, ‘and’, ‘nor’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘yet’, & ‘so’) – is a useful way to learn and remember coordinating conjunctions. But don’t teach coordinating conjunctions in that order! 

Start with the most useful and common conjunctions: ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, & ‘so’. Later, teach students to use less frequent coordinating conjunctions, ‘yet’, ‘nor’, & ‘for’. In parallel, teach punctuation conventions, such as placing a comma before the conjunction, as well as personal pronoun use.

In our self-paced FANBOYS Course, we teach students of all ages to write compound sentences, step-by-step. We define compound sentences and explain the different functions of each coordinating conjunction. We then provide lots of scaffolded sentence models, sentence-combination practice, and independent practice to help students acquire and automate the skill.

Read more: The FANBOYS Cup: How to Write Compound Sentences.

Related reading:

Is your child or teenager a Reluctant Writer?

Why and how I teach Simple Sentence Writing to Older Students with Language and Learning Disorders and Reluctant Writers

Don’t skimp on complex sentence work when teaching students to listen, speak, read, and write

How to create a daily writing habit with a dedicated nook

Dysgraphia: significant difficulties with handwriting, spelling, and/or written expression. FAQs on signs, assessment, diagnosis, and support (including resources to help)

11 ways to improve writing interventions for struggling students

Research links:

Lingard, L. (2017). Mastering the sentence | Perspectives on Medical Education

AERO Practice guide – Compound Sentences