Coordination and Subordination

Coordination and Subordination

Coordination and subordination are the two fundamental mechanisms for combining clauses (and phrases) in English. The choice between them has profound effects on the style, register, complexity, and meaning of a text. For AQA 7702, you need to understand not only how these mechanisms work grammatically but also their stylistic and rhetorical significance in different types of text.

Coordination

Coordination joins grammatically equal units — two or more words, phrases, or clauses of the same rank — using coordinating conjunctions. The coordinated elements have equal grammatical status: neither is dependent on the other.

Coordinating Conjunctions

The seven coordinating conjunctions in English are remembered by the mnemonic FANBOYS: