COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS BUT / AND / OR

Conjunctions are used to join words or groups of words together. BUT – AND – OR are the most
common ones.
AND: Joins two independent clauses. It doesn’t contrast items or ideas: Tom is tall and Mary is thin.
BUT: Joins two ideas by contrasting them: They didn’t win the game but they had fun.
OR: It expresses an alternative item or idea: Did they eat fish or chicken?

Use a comma before the coordinating conjunction to connect two independent clauses (unless the
clauses are very short): He hit the ball, but didn’t run fast.
Conjunctions that are not followed by non-essential elements should never be followed by commas.

A. Fill the blanks with the correct word from the pairs given in brackets.

1. I opened the door _________ looked out. (and, or).

2. Was she cooking _________ washing up?. (but, or).
3. Do you know his address _________ telephone number? (but, or).
4. I read the book, _________ did not understand it. (but, and)
5. I invited him _________ his friends. (and, but).

B. Fill the blank with AND / BUT / OR.

1. Stephen King is a very famous writer today __________________ it was not always that way.
2. We stayed at home __________________ watched a film.
3. She is very rich _______________ she doesn’t spend a lot of money.
4. Is the Real Madrid from Madrid _________________ Barcelona?
5. We can go walking _____________ by car.
6. Frogs can hop, ________________ can’t fly.
7. Winter days are cold _____________ rainy.
8. Tom can speak Spanish ___________________ John can speak Russian.
9. The TV is on, ________________ we’re not watching it.
10. You can have ice cream ________________ chocolate cake.