Coordination is the simplest way to combine ideas in Spanish. Instead of making one clause depend on another, you put two equal elements side by side and join them with a coordinating conjunction — words like y, o, pero, sino, and ni. The result is a compound sentence where both halves could stand alone.
In María estudia y Pedro trabaja (María studies and Pedro works), both clauses are independent and have equal grammatical weight. Neither one depends on the other.
Y / E — Adding Ideas
The conjunction y (and) joins two elements of the same kind: two nouns, two adjectives, two verbs, or two full clauses.
Compré pan y leche.
I bought bread and milk.
Juan estudia y trabaja.
Juan studies and works.
Llegamos temprano y encontramos buenos asientos.
We arrived early and found good seats.
When the word that follows y starts with the sound /i/ (written i or hi), Spanish changes y to e to avoid a clumsy double i sound.
Habla español e inglés.
He speaks Spanish and English.
Madre e hija vinieron juntas.
Mother and daughter came together.
O / U — Offering Alternatives
The conjunction o (or) presents a choice between two or more options.
¿Querés café o té?
Do you want coffee or tea?
Just like y becomes e, o becomes u before a word starting with the /o/ sound.
¿Son siete u ocho?
Is it seven or eight?
Puede venir hoy u otro día.
He can come today or another day.
Pero — Contrasting Ideas
The conjunction pero (but) introduces a contrast or unexpected turn. Both clauses remain true, but the second one qualifies or limits the first.
Es caro, pero vale la pena.
It's expensive, but it's worth it.
Quiero ir, pero no puedo.
I want to go, but I can't.
Notice that a comma usually appears before pero. This is standard punctuation for contrasting coordination in Spanish.
Sino — Correcting and Replacing
Sino also means but, but it works very differently from pero. It appears only after a negation and replaces the negated element with the correct one.
No es rojo, sino azul.
It's not red, but (rather) blue.
No quiero café, sino té.
I don't want coffee, but rather tea.
When the replacement is a full clause with its own conjugated verb, use sino que.
No se fue, sino que se quedó.
He didn't leave, but rather stayed.
Ni — Negating Two or More Elements
The conjunction ni (nor, neither...nor) connects two negated elements. It often appears doubled as ni...ni for emphasis.
No tengo tiempo ni dinero.
I don't have time or money.
Ni estudia ni trabaja.
He neither studies nor works.
No vi ni a Juan ni a Pedro.
I saw neither Juan nor Pedro.
When ni comes before the verb, the sentence does not need no — the ni already provides the negation. For the full paired pattern, see Correlative Constructions.
Subject Sharing and Verb Sharing
Coordination often allows you to share grammatical elements between clauses, making sentences shorter and more natural.
Sharing a Subject
When both clauses have the same subject, you typically say it only once.
María llegó y se sentó.
María arrived and sat down.
Here, María is the subject of both llegó and se sentó, but she is named only once. This is far more natural than repeating her name.
Sharing a Verb
When both clauses share the same verb but have different subjects or objects, you can say the verb only once.
Juan compró manzanas y Pedro, naranjas.
Juan bought apples and Pedro, oranges.
The comma after Pedro signals that the verb compró is implied but omitted. This kind of omission is called gapping — covered in detail in Ellipsis.
Sino Que vs. Pero
A common source of confusion is when to use sino que vs. pero. Both can follow a negation, but they do very different things.
No es fácil, pero es posible.
It's not easy, but it's possible.
No es fácil, sino difícil.
It's not easy, but (rather) difficult.
With pero, both halves stand as independent, potentially coexisting truths — something can be both not easy and possible. With sino, the second part replaces the first — it's not easy, it's difficult instead.
Coordinating More Than Two Elements
When you list three or more elements, the conjunction usually appears only before the last one.
Compré pan, leche y huevos.
I bought bread, milk, and eggs.
Necesitamos papel, lápices, gomas y reglas.
We need paper, pencils, erasers, and rulers.
Unlike English, Spanish does not typically use a comma before the conjunction in a list (no "Oxford comma"). The pattern is: A, B y C, not A, B, y C.
Asyndeton and Polysyndeton
Two stylistic variations of coordination are worth knowing:
- Asyndeton: omitting conjunctions entirely for rhetorical effect: Llegué, vi, vencí (I came, I saw, I conquered).
- Polysyndeton: repeating the conjunction before every element for emphasis: Compré pan y leche y huevos y queso.
Corrió, saltó, gritó de alegría.
She ran, jumped, shouted with joy.
Y corrió y saltó y gritó de alegría.
And she ran and jumped and shouted with joy.
Asyndeton creates a brisk, rapid feel. Polysyndeton creates a sense of accumulation or overwhelming quantity. Both are common in narrative and persuasive writing.
Punctuation With Coordinating Conjunctions
| Conjunction | Comma before? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| y / e | Usually no | Only for long clauses or clarity |
| o / u | Usually no | Sometimes for long alternatives |
| pero | Yes | Nearly always takes a comma |
| sino (que) | Yes | Always preceded by a comma |
| ni | No | Not usually, unless for emphasis |
Where to Go Next
Coordination is the first step in building complex sentences. To learn how to combine sentences using subordination and other techniques, continue to Sentence Combining Strategies. For paired conjunctions like ni...ni and no solo...sino también, see Correlative Constructions. For what happens when you leave words out of coordinated structures, see Ellipsis.
Related Topics
- Subordinate Clauses OverviewB1 — Learn how Spanish combines a main clause with dependent clauses using que and other connectors, and when to choose indicative or subjunctive.
- Sentence Combining StrategiesB1 — Learn practical techniques for turning short, simple Spanish sentences into complex, flowing ones — using coordination, subordination, relative clauses, and non-finite constructions.
- Correlative ConstructionsB1 — Master Spanish paired conjunctions like no solo...sino también, tanto...como, ni...ni, and cuanto más...más — with structure, position, and agreement rules.
- EllipsisB2 — Learn what Spanish allows you to leave unsaid — from pro-drop subjects to verb phrase ellipsis, sluicing, and gapping in coordinated structures.