Lesson 1: Clauses 

Let me start by saying that we can write in simple sentences all day and night and we won't be technically incorrect. We can say things like "I like Red Velvet" and "Wendy is my favorite member" and your English teacher has nothing to say to us.   

This is all about sounding good. 

To do this, you need to learn one thing: what an independent clause is. An independent clause is a bunch of words that could be a sentence all on its own. 

The examples below are NOT independent clauses. 

1. When Jinsoul arrives. 

2. Which is one of my favorite songs. 

3. Because I cannot go to the concert. 

4. How he won the race. 

A sentence has one or more independent clauses. You can make a sentence from just one independent clause, all by itself. 

The following are sentences composed of one independent clause:  

“I’ve got a bowl.” 

“There’s a little chicken soup at the bottom.” 

“The remains of my soup are ice cold.” 

Lesson Two: Compound Sentences 

A “compound” sentence is the name we give to sentences composed of multiple independent clauses strung together. 

Basic compound formula: 

Sentence 1+comma+coordinating conjunction+Sentence 2 

Sounds complicated? Not really, not at all it looks like this: 

I’ve got a bowl. There’s a little chicken soup at the bottom. 

becomes 

I’ve got a bowl, and there’s a little chicken soup at the bottom. 

All you do is stick the two sentences using a comma, and then a coordinating conjunction.  

These are the main coordinating conjunctions: 

For 
And 
Nor 
But 
Or 
Yet 
So 

You can remember them with the mnemonic FANBOYS by reading down the first letter of each word. Also, you’ll never actually use “for,” “nor,” and probably “yet” this way unless you are writing really stiff and formal prose. 

TLDR  

Stick a comma and the word and/but/or... (or a fanboy, if you want to call them that) between the two sentences. 

Example: 

"I really want to see the game, but the mall is having a huge sale today." 

Do not forget to put a comma right before the coordinating conjunction/fanboy. 

We can combine multiple sentences this way. 

“I’ve got a bowl, and there’s a little chicken soup at the bottom, but the remains of my chicken soup are ice cold.” 

Does that sound good to the ear? Nope. Not really. It’s actually a little clumsy sounding. But that’s not the point. This is just a technique. 

Lesson Three:  Two Totally Rookie Writing Mistakes to Avoid 

a.  Comma splice. 

Comma splice means sticking together two complete sentences with JUST A COMMA and no coordinating conjunction/fanboy. 

"I read MySoneSecret's stories, I upvoted all of them." 

That is horrible to a reader's ears.   Don't do this.  Well, do upvote her stories.  But don't do the comma thing.  It screams amateur to readers.  You can fix this by making them two complete sentences, using a fanboy after the comma, or using a semicolon (DON'T PANIC, SEMICOLON TRAINING will have its own blog). 

b.  Run-on sentence. 

Run-on means sticking together two complete sentences with *just a fanboy* and no comma. 

 I read MySoneSecret's stories and I upvoted all of them. 

Less ugly than a comma splice, but best avoided. 

Lesson Four: Easy Test for Commas  

This is all well and good, but how do you, the writer, know whether to stick a comma in somewhere if you want to write interesting sentences? Use this Easy Test for Commas. 

Look at your sentence and find a fanboy.  If the words to the left of it make a complete sentence, and the words to the right of it make a complete sentence, you need a comma before the fanboy. 

Example: 

Yves went to the store to buy chocolates BUT she never returned. 

Look to the left of the fanboy. Could that be a complete sentence? (Yves went to the store to buy chocolates) YES 

Look to the right of the fanboy. Could that be a complete sentence? (she never returned) YES 

if the answer to both questions is YES, put a comma before it. 

Example: 

Yves and Chuu went to the store to buy chocolates but they never returned. 

Look to the left of the "and" (it just says "Yves" and that is obviously not a sentence) 

We can already conclude that no comma is needed there. 

Look left and right of the "but" 

Yves and Chuu went to the store to buy chocolates -> YES, that's a sentence 

they never returned -> YES, that's a sentence. 

You need a comma before the "but." 

An exception: 

The one exception to the Easy Test for Commas involves list. 

“I need chocolates, coffee, and bread.” 

The comma after “coffee” above is not used by everyone. Some people think lists should have a comma before the and some don’t. This is one of the few exceptions to this test. If there’s a list, you may see a comma before the “and.” 

In conclusion: 

Comma use in compound sentences is simple, but it is the foundation of the other stuff that you should know about sentences, like semicolons, cumulatives, and periodics.  The above is expected of decent writers.  Writers use commas appropriately--you don't want to be the person who writes "I don't, know where to use commas, and stuff."  

There are great writers who seem to make the errors I advised against above, but that's because they know the rules and sometimes wish to break them in order to create an effect or because they think it's the right thing to do in that situation. In their case, it's more of a stylistic choice. And that's okay. I'm telling you all these because you have to know the rules before you can break them. There are no punctuation police. This is about sounding good. 

To be honest, making this blog took way longer than it should be. I don't know when the next one is going up. I hope this helps!