Short telling sentences are clear, but a page of them can sound choppy: “I have a cat. She is gray.” When two ideas go together, you can join them with and.
Key idea
Use and to join two short sentences that go together. Put a comma before and.
Why it works
Joining two ideas that belong together shows the reader they are connected, and it makes the writing flow like talking.
Worked example: Join two sentences
“We went to the beach. We built a sandcastle.”
- Both ideas are about the same trip.
- Keep the first sentence, but change its period to a comma.
- Add and, then the second idea with a small letter.
Answer: “We went to the beach, and we built a sandcastle.”
Common mistake
Joining every sentence with and, or “and then… and then… and then…”, so the writing becomes one long string. Join two ideas at a time. For a list of events, use separate sentences and time words like first, then and last.
For the grown-up. The comma before and in a joined sentence is the standard way to write it; with two very short sentences, many writers leave it out. And can also join two words: “Mia and Leo,” “cats and dogs.”