Coordinate conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions are used to join two similar grammatical constructions; for instance, two words, two phrases or two clauses.
e.g. My friend and I will attend the meeting.
      Austria is famous for the beauty of its landscape and the hospitality of its people.
      The sun rose and the birds began to sing.

In these examples, the coordinate conjunction and is used to join the two words friend and I, the two phrases the beauty of its landscape and the hospitality of its people, and the two clauses the sun rose and the birds began to sing.

The most commonly used coordinate conjunctions are and, but and or. In addition, the words nor and yet may be used as coordinate conjunctions. In the following table, each coordinate conjunction is followed by its meaning and an example of its use. Note the use of inverted word order in the clause beginning with nor.