The following sentence uses the conjunction ‘or’ to link the
clauses.
(She must leave soon) or (it would be too dark to see).Use a co-ordinating conjunction to link two clauses- nota comma.
If your work is constructed properly, you can use a number
of clauses within one sentence.
Making a list
You can use a list of main clauses. In this case, as in any
other list, the clauses are separated by commas and the last
one is preceded by ‘and’. Although it is not now considered
necessary to put a comma before ‘and’, it is sometimes done.
If so, it is known as the Oxford comma as the Oxford
University Press uses it but many other publishers do not.
If there is a danger of the sentence being misunderstood,
then a comma should be inserted before ‘and’. (Fowler, the
acknowledged authority on English usage feels the omission
of theOxford commais usually ‘unwise’.) It is not used in
the following examples. ‘I’ is the subject of each of the
clauses in the following sentences but it needs to be used
only once – at the beginning. It is ‘understood’ in the follow-
ing clauses.
I closed down the computer, (I) signed my letters, (I)
tidied my desk, (I) picked up my coat and (I) left the
office.54 / IMPROVE YOUR PUNCTUATION & GRAMMAR