Linking clauses — Worked example

- [Instructor] Hey there, test takers. I've got this question from the Reading and Writing Test that I'm about to read, but if you'd like to take a whack at solving it yourself first, I'll give you some space to pause the video and try it yourself. Okay, now let's do it together. "Due to its steepness, depth, and rugged terrain, the Linville Gorge in North Carolina avoided logging in the 19th and 20th centuries. The gorge is one of the few existing examples of old growth forest in the Blue Ridge blank in 1964 it was designated a national wilderness area. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?" Okay, so this question is concerned with the conventions of Standard English, which is grammar in other words. But which grammar convention is being tested here? The choices will tell us. Okay, our choices are all similar looking at first glance. The only difference being whether or not they contain "and," a comma, or both. The blank occurs at the intersection between two clauses, right? "The gorge is," and "it was designated." And this along with those variations in the choices tells me we're looking at a boundaries question. Boundaries questions are all about how different types of clauses and phrases are connected to each other. Should we use a comma, a semicolon, a period? Do need to include a coordinating conjunction like "and" or "but?" Boundaries questions may vary in their focus, but there are a few rules that will help us answer any boundaries question we see on test day. With this particular example question, we're going to discuss the rules around linking clauses. So let's get a couple of definitions on the board really quick. A clause is a grouping of words that includes a subject and a verb. Clauses that can stand on their own as sentences are independent clauses. Clauses that can't stand on their own as sentences are dependent clauses. In complex sentences, we may see multiple independent or dependent clauses linked together. But there are only a few ways different types of clauses can be linked together grammatically. You can use punctuation to separate clauses. Any end of sentence punctuation mark like a period, question mark, or exclamation point can separate two independent clauses by making them individual sentences. And two independent clauses can also be linked with a semicolon. There's coordination, which links independent clauses, and subordination, which links an independent clause to a dependent clause or vice versa. FANBOYS conjunctions, also known as coordinating conjunctions, are the only conjunctions that can combine two independent clauses along with a comma. You can't just use a comma. That leads to a comma splice error. It's gotta be both a coordinating conjunction and a comma. Why are they called FANBOYS? Because they are "for," "and," "nor," "but," "or," "yet," and "so." FANBOYS. That's it. Just seven of them. There are way more subordinating conjunctions. Too many to make into a snappy acronym. But a few examples are "despite," "although," "before." So watch this. Let me give you an incorrect sentence. "Broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi seem like very different vegetables, they are all cultivars of the same plant species." Now, the error here is that we've got two independent clauses joined by a comma. Let's keep the comma, but add a conjunction. We can make this grammatical by adding a subordinating conjunction to one of the clauses making it dependent. "Though broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi seem like very different vegetables, they are all cultivars of the same plant species." Or we can keep them as two independent clauses, but add a FANBOYS conjunction. "Broccoli, kale, and kohlrabi seem like very different vegetables, but they are all cultivars of the same plant species." That's the gist of it. Now with that quick refresher, let's talk about what these questions want you to do. We wanna find a way to link these clauses in a way that conforms to the conventions of Standard American English, or, put another way, link clauses grammatically. Here's the strategy to do just that. First, we'll look both ways before we cross the street. Check before and after the blank to identify the clauses. Are we dealing with two independent clauses here, or is one of them dependent? Then eliminate choices that result in errors like run-on sentences or comma splices. Remember, you can't link two independent clauses with just a comma. You need a comma and a FANBOYS conjunction. Then identify the answer. Because whatever doesn't result in an error is the correct choice. Let's go back to the question. I've already read the passage so let's just do our strategy and look at either side of the blank to evaluate the clauses. We're looking to see if they could stand on their own as sentences, which means they won't start with subordinating conjunctions like "although," "despite," or "when." I already underlined some of these earlier, right? That's our first clause. "Gorge is." All right, no subordinating conjunctions there. That's an independent clause. "The gorge is one of the few existing examples." Second clause... Where is our subject? Is "it," right? I already underlined this one earlier. "It was designated a national wilderness area." Okay, and there's our second clause. Also independent. Both of those could stand on their own as sentences and that leaves us very few choices for linking these two clauses together in a grammatical way. Let's power through our choices. Choice A. "The gorge is one of the few existing examples of old growth forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, in 1964 it was designated a national wilderness area." No dice. That's a comma splice error. You can't combine two independent clauses with just a comma. Choice B. "The gorge is one of the few existing examples of old growth forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1964 it was designated in National Wilderness Area." Oh, no good. That's a run on sentence. That's two independent clauses that just whack into each other without a connector. I'm exhausted. Nope, not grammatical. Choice C. Hey, it's "Mountains, and." There's our FANBOYS conjunction and comma grammatically combining these two clauses. This is the answer for sure, but let's see about D. "Mountains and." No comma, right? So basically the same as choice B. "The gorge is one of the few existing examples of old growth forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains and in 1964 it was designated a national wilderness area." And without the comma turns, it turns it into a run-on. You need to have that coordinating conjunction and the comma to grammatically join these independent clauses. So D is no good, and C is our answer. Let's review some top tips really quick. So top tip, memorize the FANBOYS conjunctions. These are the only seven you need to remember for combining independent clauses. FANBOYS plus a comma. That's it. Another top tip. In case of semicolons, hunt for independent clauses before and after the blank. If the parts of the sentence before and after the semicolon can each stand as sentences, you're good to go. If they're not, you need to go with another punctuation mark. Good luck out there, test takers. You've got this.