Faulty Coordination
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"To coordinate" means "to harmonize in a common action" or "to place in the same order or class." Thus in grammatical terms, "to coordinate" means to balance equal ideas and give equal emphasis in sentences. To coordinate single words or phrases, join them with a coordinating conjunction or a pair of correlative conjunctions. To coordinate independent clauses join them with a comma and a coordinating conjunction. Now, faulty coordination occurs when two ideas are not of equal value; one of the ideas should be subordinated. 

Examples of This Trouble

Wrong: George Berkeley was an eighteenth-century idealist and he believed that there is no existence of matter independent of perception. 
(The two clauses are not equal in importance and thus should not be coordinated: the second builds on the first by explaining what an idealist believes.)
Corrected: George Berkeley, an eighteenth-century idealist, believed that there is no existence of matter independent of perception.

Wrong: We keep our rat poison, insecticides, and paint thinner locked in a cupboard and we are conscientious about our children’s safety.
(These two clauses are not equal in importance.)
Corrected: We keep our rat poison, insecticides, and paint thinner locked in a cupboard because we are conscientious about our children’s safety.
(The subordinating conjunction signals a logical connection between the ideas more effectively than the coordinating conjunction "and.")

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How to Correct This Trouble 

Subordinate one of the independent clauses: find an appropriate subordinating conjunction to introduce one of the clauses or reduce one clause to a phrase.

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How to Avoid This Trouble

When coordinating two independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, make sure that your clauses are equal in importance. When excessive coordination occurs, you have a run-on sentence.

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