Sentence Structure (and, but, or)
Joining two or more sentences with
and, but, or
1. A) “and”: to join sentences when their meanings go well together.
Example:
Mei Ling has a bicycle. Her brother has a motorcycle.
Mei Ling has a bicycle and her brother has a motorcycle. (Both has vehicles)
B) “But”: to join sentences when their meanings contrast with each other.
Example:
Kim Seng is quiet. His cousin is talkative.
Kim Seng is quiet but his cousin is talkative.
(Quiet contrasts with talkative)
C) “Or”: to join sentences to show that only one of the choices will take place.
Example:
We can eat at the restaurant.
We can have a barbecue at home.
We can eat at the restaurant or we can have a barbecue at home.
2. “And” / “Or”: to join three or more sentences.
Sentence + comma + sentence + (+ comma + sentence + …) + and / or + sentence
Example:
I’m Kim. She’s Mary. He’s Ali.
I’m Kim, she’s Mary and he’s Ali.
I’ll go first. She’ll go first. We’ll go together.
I’ll go first, she’ll go first or we’ll go together.
3. “And”, “But”, “Or” can be use together to join simple sentences.
Example:
Joe is bright. Jim is clever too. Both must work
harder. Their grades will remain poor.
(Simple sentences)
Joe is bright and Jim is clever too but both must
work harder or their grades will remain poor.
(Compound sentence)
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Learning English by Uncle Teng 
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