COORDINATION

A. What is COORDINATION? - A way of joining clauses, or clause elements with coordinators such as
and, or and but

1. Jane is a good teacher and her students really like her.

The first part (Jane is a good teacher) is a BARE COORDINATE the second And her students really like
her is an EXPANDED COORDINATE.

B. How is it different from subordination? - The units are on the same syntactic level whereas in
subordination one of the two units is a constituent of the other. -

EXAMPLES:
2. They are my neighbours but I don’t know them well. (two clauses) - COORDINATION
3. I don’t know where they are staying (direct obj. of the clause) - SUBORDINATION

C. Basic Forms of coordination - Coordination with a coordinator is SYNDETIC (or BINARY), without
is ASYNDETIC,with repeated coordinators , is POLYSYNDETIC (or MULTIPLE)

4. Slowly and stealthily, he crept towards his victim (Syndetic)

5. Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards his victim (asyndetic)
6. The wind roared and the lightning flashed and the clouds raced across the sky. (Polysyndetic)

D.(i) Uses of AND:

AND indicates that there is some relation between the contents of the linked clauses. The relation can
generally be made explicit by the addition of an adverbial, as indicated in parentheses in the examples:
(a) The event in the second clause is chronologically sequent to that in the first:
7. I washed the dishes and (then) I dried them.
(b) The event in the second clause is a consequence or result of the event in the first:
8. He heard an explosion and he (therefore) phoned the police.
(c) The second clause introduces a contrast:
9. Peter is secretive and (in contrast) David is open.
(d) The first clause has concessive force:
10. She tried hard and (yet) she failed.
(e) The first clause is a condition of the first:
11. Give me some money and (then) I'll do the shopping.
(f) The second clause makes a point similar to the first:
12. A trade agreement should be no problem, and (similarly) a cultural exchange could be easily
arranged.
(g) The second clause is a 'pure' addition to the first:
13. He has long hair and (also) he often wears jeans.
(h) The second clause adds an appended comment on, or explanation of, the first:
14. They disliked John - and that's not surprising in view of hisbehaviour. There's only one thing to
do now - and that's to apologize.

D (ii) Uses of Or

(a) Typically, OR is exclusive: it excludes the possibility that the contents of both clauses are true or are to
be fulfilled:
 15. You can sleep on the couch in the lounge or you can go to a hotel.
Even when both alternatives are clearly possible, or is normally interpreted as exclusive:
16. You can boil yourself an egg or (else) you can make some sandwiches.

(b) Sometimes or is inclusive. We can add a third clause that makes this inclusive meaning explicitly:
17. You can boil an egg, (or) you can make some sandwiches, or you can do both. And can replace or
in its inclusive meaning.
(c) The alternative expressed by or may also be a restatement or a corrective to what is said in the first
conjoin:
18. They are enjoying themselves, or (at least)/(rather) they appear to be enjoying themselves.

(d) In addition to introducing alternatives as indicated above, or may imply a NEGATIVE CONDITION. Thus
in:
19. Switch on the radio or we'll miss the news.
the implication can be paraphrased by the negative conditional clause:
20. Switch on the radio. If you don't switch on the radio, we'll miss the news.

D (iii) Uses of BUT

But expresses a contrast
(a) The content of the second clause is unexpected in view of the content of the first:
21. John is poor, but he is happy.
(In this use, but can be replaced by and yet.)

(b) The second clause expresses in positive terms what the negation in the first clause conveys:
22. Jane did not waste her time before the exam, but (on the contrary) studied hard every evening.
23. I am not objecting to his morals but rather to his manners.

In this use, but can be emphasized by the conjuncts on the contrary or rather. It normally does not link
two clauses, but two lesser constituents.

E. CORRELATIVES: EITHER... OR, BOTH,..AND, NEITHER... NOR

The first word of correlatives is an endorsing item and the second is a coordinator.

E(i) Either . . . or emphasizes the exclusive meaning of or.

The linked units may be complete clauses or lesser constituents:
24. Either the room is too small or the piano is too large.
25. You may either stand up or sit down.
26. Either Sylvia or her sister will be staying with us.

E(ii) Both . . . and emphasizes the additive meaning of and

27. David both loves Joan and wants to marry her.
28. This new machine will both accelerate the copying process and improve the quality of
reproduction.
29. Both Mary and Peter washed the dishes.
30. The regulations are both very precise and very detailed.

It also singles out the segregatory meaning of and rather than the combinatory meaning:
31. Both David and Joan got divorced, [not from each other]

E. (iii) Neither... nor is the negative counterpart of both... and. It emphasizes that the negation applies to
both units:
 32. David neither loves Joan, nor wants to marry her.
33. Mary was neither happy nor sad.
34. Neither Peter nor his wife wanted the responsibility.

F. (i) - Nor and neither as negative adverbs

Nor and neither, followed by subject-operator inversion, can be used without being a correlative pair.
They generally presuppose that a previous clause is negative either explicitly, or implicitly.

35. He did not receive any assistance from the authorities, neither did he believe their assurance that
action would soon be taken. (explicit negative in previous clause)
36. Many people are only dimly aware of the ways in which the environment can be protected. Nor
have governments made sufficient efforts to educate them. ( implicit negative in previous clause)
37. All the students were obviously very miserable. Nor were the teachers satisfied with the
conditions at the school.

F. (ii) - Not (only)... but

The negator not /n't or the combination not /n't only may be correlative with a following but:
38. He didn't come to help, but to hinder us. ['but rather']
39. They not only broke into his office and stole his books, but (they) (also) tore up his manuscripts.
40. He came not to help, but to hinder us.
41. Not only did they break into his office and steal his books, but they also tore up his manuscripts.
42. Not Henry, but his wife is the owner.
43.

G . Simple Coordination
Simple coordination – is what we have when a single clause or clause constituent is linked to others that
are parallel in meaning, in function, and (generally) in form.

This can be seen as an elliptical version of clause coordination, or as a single clause containing a predicate
which in turn contains two or more predicates.
44. Sam has trimmed the hedge and mowed the lawn. (Simple coordination)
45. Sam has trimmed the hedge and (Sam has)mowed the lawn – Ellipsis
46. Sam has [(trimmed the hedge) and (mowed the lawn)] – single clause with predication containing
two predicates.

H. Coordination of CLAUSES:

H(i) a. Complete independent clauses may be coordinated:

47. The winter had come at last, and snow lay thick on the ground.
H(i) b. Subordinate finite clauses may be coordinated, so long as they belong to the same function class:
48. If you pass the examination and (if) no one else applies, you are bound to get the job.
[coordinated adverbial clauses]
49. The Minister believes that the economy is improving and (that unemployment will soon decrease.
[coordinated nominal th/it-clauses]
50. I didn't know who she was or what she wanted. [coordinated nominal wh-clauses]
51. Someone who knows the area, but whose home is outside it, is more likely to be a successful
representative. [coordinated relative clauses]

H(i) c. Nonfinite clauses of the same type and also verbless clauses may coordinated:
52. I've asked him to come this evening or (to) phone us tomorrow. [coordinated to-infinitive clauses]
 53. Samantha is fond of working at night and getting up late in this morning. [coordinated -ing
participle clauses]
54. All the villagers helped to rebuild the houses damaged by the storm or washed away by the
floods. [coordinated -ed participle clauses]
55. With George ill and (with) the children at home, Jenny is finding life very difficult. [coordinated
verbless clauses]

H.(ii) Coordination of predicates and predications

56. Peter ate the fruit and drank the beer.
57. I send you my very best wishes, and look forward to our next meeting.
58. Margaret is ill, but will soon recover.
59. Most people will have read the book or seen the film.
60. They should have washed the dishes, dried them, and put them in the cupboard.
61. They were married in 1960, but divorced in 1970.
62. Are you working or on holiday!
63. Why couldn't she have finished work late and still be travelling home!

H.(iii) Coordination of noun phrases and their constituents

(a) Noun-phrase coordination
Two or more noun phrases may be joined to form a coordinated noun phrase;
64. Some of the staff and all of the students have voted for these changes [1]
65. On this farm, they keep cows, sheep, pigs, and a few chickens. [2]

JOINT and DISTRIBUTIVE coordination of noun phrases

Phrases linked by and may express joint and distributive meaning. The distinction is clearest with noun
phrases.
When the, we can paraphrase it by clause coordination:
66. John and Mary know the answer. [ = John knows the answer, and Mary knows the answer]
DISTRIBUTIVE coordination)
When it is we cannot do so, because the conjoins function in combination with respect to the rest of the
clause:
67. John and Mary make a pleasant couple. JOINT coordination

Many coordinated noun phrases are in fact ambiguous between the two interpretations:
68. John and Mary won a prize.(either distributive or joint)
69. John and Mary played as partners in tennis against Susan and Bill.
70. Peter and Bob separated (from each other).
71. Paula and her brother look alike.
72. Mary and Paul are just good friends.
73. John and Peter have different tastes (from each other).
74. Mary and Susan are colleagues (of each other).
75. Law and order is a primary concern of the new administration.

Certain markers explicitly indicate that the coordination is distributive:

both (... and) neither . . . nor respectively (formal)
each respective (formal) apiece (rather rare)
76. John and Mary have each won a prize.
77. John and Mary have won a prize each.
78. Both John and Mary have won a prize.
79. John and Mary have both won a prize.
Similarly, whereas
80. John and Mary didn 't win a prize (ambiguous)
81. Neither John nor Mary won a prize (unambiguously distributive.)

I- Coordination of other clause constituents

All the main variations of constructions that we have noted for clauses and hour phrases are found in the
coordination of other constituents.
Examples of the coordination of various constituents are given below:
(a) Verb phrases:
82. Good cooking can disguise, but cannot improve the quality of the ingredients.
(b) Main verbs:
83. Many people might have been killed or injured by the explosion.
(c) Auxiliaries:
84. The country can and must recover from its present crisis.
(d) Adjective phrases:
85. The journey was long and extremely arduous.
(e) Adjective heads:
86. I'm feeling younger and healthier than I felt for years.
(f) Adverbs
87. She made the announcement quietly but very confidently.
(g) Prepositional phrases and prepositions:
88. He spoke for the first motion but against the second motion.
89. She climbed up and over the wall.
Part of the prepositional complement may be ellipted in the bare coordinate or a subsequent coordinate.
90. He spoke for the first a but against the second motion. ( formal)
91. He spoke for the first motion but against the second.
(h) Coordination of subordinators and other clause-introducing words:
92. I am prepared to meet them when and where they like.

J- NON-BASIC COORDINATION
Non-basic coordination (or Complex coordination )is coordination in which the cooordinates are
combinations of units rather than single units. Such coordination create parallelism between the
coordinates and for this reason it tends to be associated with a premeditated, written style of English,
rather than with informal conversation.

93. We gave William a book on stamps and Mary a book on painting. (Indirect object + direct object)
94. Jack painted the kitchen white and the bathroom blue. (Object + object complement)
95. You should serve the coffee in a mug and the lemonade in a glass. (Object + adverbial)
96. Gregory Peck always was and always will be her favourite Hollywood star
97. Richard admires, but Margaret despises, the ballyhoo of modern advertising.
98. He is, or at least he was, a major composer of modern classical music.
99. In these days, few people learn, or indeed see any point in learning, the languages of Homer and
Virgil.
100. She thought about, but never revisited, the haunts of her childhood.

K - GAPPING
Gapping is a type of coordination in which the middle-part of a non-initial coordinate can be left out if it
is recoverable from the corresponding part of the initial coordinate. For example:
101. One girl has written a poem, and the other A a short story.
102. Smith completed the course in thirty-five minutes, and Johnson in thirty-seven.
103. Jane has looked more healthy and Maurice more relaxed since their vacation
L- LAYERING (coordinates within coordinates)
104. Laurel and Hardy and Fred and Ginger are my favourite movie duos
105.