I watched an interesting YouTube video about commas. In this clip, the author says commas are needed with FANBOYS (for/and/nor/but/or/yet/so).
The example is as follows:
Bartheleme was accepted into the University of Chicago, and he is on the waitlist for Stanford.
However, in this YouTube video clip, the author says it is not necessary when the subject in the first clause is different from the second clause.
The comma-less example that the author uses is:
They went to get pizza but the store was closed.
The example that uses a comma is (the comma is needed as the subject is the same for both of the clauses):
They went to get pizza, but came back with ice cream.
It's confusing because from the first YouTube clip the FANBOYS always need commas, but from the second clip we need the comma only when the subject is the same.
In this video clip, there should be no comma with:
She started the car and drove down the hill.
This example is quite contrary to the second one.
What is the correct usage of comma with FANBOYS? For example, do I need comma or not in this sentence?
I have raised him and tried to give all the support that he needed to become a person who leads a fruitful life,(?) and a model citizen who contributes to make the world a better place.
Best Answer
I think the "rule" is really more of a guideline to help you organize your thoughts around the use of commas. Which is all commas really are -- a way to organize the written word by adding significant pauses to separate parts of a sentence. In practice, some people use commas far less than they should. Other people like to string together sentences with commas until they're the proverbial Mark Twain Literary German.
So a comma is a pause in the conversation. It's not necessary to use commas, but it can be convenient to your readers to help them follow the flow of your thoughts.
To return to your guideline, it seems like the videos recommend using a comma in situations where you're going to change the direction of the action. "I started the car and drove away," is no surprise. That's what cars do. But, "I started the car, and the engine caught on fire," does not flow smoothly from one action to the other. The comma helps define that you, the writer, did not expect the second action to happen. If you were to say this to another person you'd probably insert a pause before the "and" just to add some drama to your anecdote.
So imagine a conversation, and insert commas where they feel appropriate. The more familiar you get with where English speakers insert pauses, the more natural it will become.