and

When you are talking about two things or people, you put and between two noun phrases.

When you are linking more than two noun phrases, you usually only put and in front of the last one.

In lists like these, the comma before and is optional.

You put and between two adjectives when they come after linking verbs such as be, seem, and feel.

When there are more than two adjectives after a linking verb, you usually only put and in front of the last one.

In lists like these, the comma before and is optional.

When you use two or more adjectives in front of a noun, you don't usually put and between them.

However, if the adjectives are colour adjectives, you must use and.

Similarly, if you are using adjectives that classify a noun in a similar way, you use and.

You also use and when you put adjectives in front of a plural noun in order to talk about groups of things that have different or opposite qualities.

Be Careful!
Don't use 'and' to link adjectives when you want them to contrast with each other. For example, don't say 'We were tired and happy'. You say 'We were tired but happy'.

You can use and to link adverbs.

You use and to link verbs when you are talking about actions performed by the same person, thing, or group.

If you want to say that someone does something repeatedly or for a long time, you can use and after a verb, and then repeat the verb.

In conversation, you can sometimes use and after try or wait instead of using a to-infinitive clause. For example, instead of saying 'I'll try to get a newspaper', you say 'I'll try and get a newspaper'. In sentences like these you are describing one action, not two.

You only use and like this when you are using a future form of try or wait, or when you are using the infinitive or imperative form.

If you go and do something or come and do something, you move from one place to another in order to do it.

And is often used to link clauses.

When you are giving advice or a warning, you can use and to say what will happen if something is done. For example, instead of saying 'If you go by train, you'll get there quicker', you can say 'Go by train and you'll get there quicker'.

You can put and at the beginning of a sentence when you are writing down what someone said, or writing in a conversational style.

When you are linking verb phrases that contain the same auxiliary verb, you don't need to repeat the auxiliary verb.

Similarly, when you are linking nouns that have the same adjective, preposition, or determiner in front of them, you don't need to repeat the adjective, preposition, or determiner.

When you link two phrases using and, you can emphasize that what you are saying applies to both phrases by putting both in front of the first phrase.

You don't normally use 'and' to link groups of words in negative sentences. For example, don't say 'She never reads and listens to stories'. You say 'She never reads or listens to stories'.

However, you use and when you are talking about the possibility of two actions happening at the same time. For example, you say 'I can't think and talk at the same time'. You also use and if two noun phrases occur so frequently together that they are regarded as a single item. For example, knife and fork are always joined by and even in negative sentences such as 'I haven't got my knife and fork'.

When two noun phrases are regarded as a single item like this, they almost always occur in a fixed order. For example, you talk about your knife and fork, not your 'fork and knife'.