The compound sentence has two or more finite – or complete – verbs. It is made up of two or more simple sentences, usually joined by a conjunction.

Examples: We will catch the bus down the road and go shopping in town. The simple sentences are: We will catch the bus down the road. We will go shopping in town.

The conjunction, “and” is a co-ordinating conjunction. It joins simple sentences or ideas that are equally important. There are seven co-ordinating conjunctions: “for”, “and”, “nor”, “but”, “or”, “yet”, “so”. The first letter of each spells FANBOYS – which is how many people remember the list.

The simple sentences in a compound sentence may also be joined by a semi-colon, for example: She only likes studying languages; she does not like geography.