14

Coordination

In chapter 9, we saw how noun phrases can be coordinate, meaning two or more are connected with coordinating conjunctions, even if those coordinators are replaced with commas.

Apples and flour are the main ingredients.

(Nouns apples and flour are joined with coordinating conjunction and.)

Apples, flour, and sugar are the main ingredients.

(Nouns apples, flour, and sugar replace the first and with a comma.)

We also saw how clauses can be coordinate.

I want a soda and I’m going to get one.

I want a soda so I’ll go get one.

I want a soda but all I have is tea.

But nouns and clauses aren’t the only things that can be coordinate. In fact, pretty much any elements connected with and, but, or so are by definition coordinate.

Verb phrases can be coordinate. This often means that a single noun phrase is subject of multiple verbs. In other words, that subject is the doer of multiple actions in the sentence. Those verb phrases share the subject.

We made the bed and swept the floor.

(We is the subject of coordinate verb phrases made and swept.)

Chuck walks or jogs every morning.

(Chuck is the subject of coordinate verb phrases walks and jogs.)

Even parts of verbs—verb participles—can be coordinate.

Leslie was talking, walking, and laughing all at the same time.

(The progressive participles talking, walking, and laughing all share the auxiliary verb was.)

Evan has begged and pleaded for assistance.

(The past participles begged and pleaded share the auxiliary verb has.)

Adjective phrases can be coordinate. Note that when the adjective phrases premodify a noun, a coordinating conjunction before the final adjective phrase is optional.

A tall, lanky, and mysterious man came to see you.

(The optional and is included before the final list item.)

A tall, lanky, mysterious man came to see you.

(The three adjectives are coordinate with an implied and between each.)

Adverb phrases, too, can be coordinate. Just as with adjectives, the coordinating conjunction can be omitted before the final coordinate item.

He really, truly, persistently tries his best.

(The three adverbs contain the implied coordinating conjunction and.)

He’s either critically or seriously injured.

(The two adverbs are coordinated with the conjunction or.)

Prepositional phrases and prepositions can be coordinate.

Government of the people, by the people, and for the people

(Three prepositional phrases are coordinate.)

Government of, by, and for the people

(The coordinate prepositions share both a subject and an object.)

Even larger sentence elements, like whole predicates, can be coordinate.

Eric has had a good career and is ready to retire.

(Eric serves as subject of two complete predicates, with different verbs and complements.)

Walt knew what was coming or didn’t care enough to stop it.

(Walt serves as subject of two complete predicates with different verbs and complements.)

Understanding coordination is key to avoiding three common errors: subject-verb disagreement, faulty parallel construction, and poor comma choice between adjectives. We’ll look at these issues in part 2, “Usage and Propriety.” But because these problems all stem from the same concept, it’s worth looking at coordination as a broad language concept.

First, coordination’s role in subject-verb agreement problems: when it comes to verb agreement, and and or create different dynamics. Subjects coordinated with and take plural verbs. Singular subjects coordinated with or take singular verbs because the conjunction suggests that only one of the coordinate noun phrases is performing the action of the verb.

Pam and Ralph are coming to see you.

Pam or Ralph is coming to see you.

But complicated coordination of subjects makes it easy to lose track of whether the verb should be singular or plural.

Pam, Ralph, or Barry and Jane is coming to see you.

Pam, Ralph, or Barry and Jane are coming to see you.

The above example coordinates three items with or. Because the first item is singular, we set up a situation that customarily calls for a singular verb. But because the final coordinate item is a coordinate item—one that itself is a plural—it’s harder to know whether the verb should be singular or plural. In these cases, your ear is a good guide. Because the plural verb are sounds more natural than is, it is therefore acceptable.

When you’re trying to figure out the verb form that goes with a complex coordinate subject, start with the rule that and subjects are inherently plural while singular nouns coordinated with or take a singular verb. But when further complications make these rules impractical, it’s a clue that they may not apply.

Faulty parallel construction is another issue connected to coordination. As we saw, different-sized pieces of sentences can be coordinate: phrases, single words, or whole predicates. Parallel construction requires that the coordinate items attach to the stem of the sentence in the same way. But with so many options, it can be easy to lose track.

Ted has been walking, thinking, and has reflected a lot on what you did.

(Incorrect.)

The above example is faulty because the three coordinate elements should all attach the same way to the stem. The coordinate items share the words has been and should attach to them.

Ted has been walking.

(Correct.)

Ted has been thinking.

(Correct.)

Ted has been has reflected.

(Incorrect.)

The final coordinate item, has reflected, doesn’t work after has been. So what we have here is an example of how faulty parallel problems can arise from carelessly executed coordination. To correct a faulty parallel, make sure all the pieces attach in the same way to the stem.

Ted has been walking, thinking, and reflecting a lot on what you did.

Our third and final issue relating to coordination is illustrated by comparing these two example sentences:

He wore a tacky, gaudy, ugly shirt.

He wore a bright red floral shirt.

Notice the commas. In both examples, they’re used correctly.

Why is it right to put commas between the adjectives in the first example but not in the second? Because punctuation rules say that commas go between coordinate adjectives and they don’t go between noncoordinate adjectives.

Coordinate adjectives, by definition, are adjectives joined with implied coordinating conjunctions. So you can think of the commas as representing the word and.

There are two handy litmus tests to tell whether your adjectives are coordinate: (1) Try putting and between them. (2) Try moving them around.

He wore a tacky and gaudy and ugly shirt.

The ands here make sense. The shirt was all three of those things. That’s why you can also move the adjectives around without any loss of clarity.

He wore a gaudy, ugly, tacky shirt.

He wore an ugly, tacky, gaudy shirt.

You can see that those adjectives are coordinate. They all modify the noun independently of each other.

Now try those two tests on our second example. First, the ands:

He wore a bright and red and floral shirt.

The shirt is not bright. It’s bright red. Those two adjectives don’t modify the noun independently.

Now try litmus test number two, swapping the order of the adjectives:

He wore a red, floral, bright shirt.

Clearly, this doesn’t work as well. Bright red floral has almost a cumulative effect that can’t be rearranged without losing something. It’s as though floral is most integral to shirt because it tells you what kind of shirt it is, while red modifies the whole concept of a floral shirt and bright modifies red.

As we’ve seen, coordination is more a syntactical function than a usage guideline. But the issues of subject-verb agreement, parallel structure, and coordinate adjectives prove it’s a good idea to have a basic grasp of the concept.