, FANBOYS

[madhukara77]

Hello Expert -

Please let me know, whether my understanding is correct -

Is it a mandate to use independent clause after [, FANBOYS]? In other words , if my second clause is not the independent one then I must not use (, FANBOYS).

Let me know , which of the below examples are correct -

1> Ram eats too much , but is thin like a girl. (Ram is the shared sub here , and so the part after but is not a independent clause. However I have used , BUT)
2> Ram eats too much but is thin like a girl. (Sub shared and used only FANBOYS )
3> Ram eats too much, but he is thin like a girl. (Two ICs with ,FANBOYS)

One more question - Is a (,) must before like or the sentence is acceptable in the above mentioned way as well.

Thanks,
Madhukar

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

FANBOYS is a list of words that can be used to connect two clauses that could function as independent sentences. Personally I find that they can be a bit confusing as many other words can perform a similar role - such as 'although' - and the FANBOYS words have other uses as well, as you point out.

Clearly the sentence 'I bought apples and pears.' is totally fine; 'and' is just connecting two nouns and is not operating as a conjunction for two clauses.

1> Ram eats too much , but is thin like a girl.
2> Ram eats too much but is thin like a girl.
I would say that the use of 'but' is fine in these sentences. The comma is optional; GMAT doesn't test you on comma usage as it's such a subjective and controversial part of grammar.
3> Ram eats too much, but he is thin like a girl.
Repeating the subject when the construction could be parallel is something that GMAT doesn't like. See SC 753 from OG 2018 for an example of this.

Finally, 'he is thin like a girl' doesn't need a comma, but isn't a good comparison. The word 'like' is generally used to compare two nouns from the same category, for example 'Jim, like John, works for a bank.' Your example picks nouns 'Ram' and 'a girl' from different categories. One is a specific person, one is a general example. Perhaps the phrase 'he is as thin as a girl is' or 'he is thin in the same way a girl is' might give a more precise meaning.