Putting things together: and, but, or

and

And can join two or more grammatically similar expressions, from single words up to complete clauses.

• bread and cheese
• the Prime Minister and his cabinet
• You need to go home and have a good rest.
• Her English is good and her Japanese is not bad.

With more than two expressions, we generally only put and before the last.

• We drank, talked and danced.
• He started as a cleaner, he worked his way up, and now he runs the company.

And is sometimes left out in a very literary or poetic style, but this is unusual.

• My dreams are full of darkness, despair, death.

In expressions joined by and, repeated words are often left out.

• We need a saw, (a) hammer and (a) screwdriver.
• She’s worked in China, (in) Thailand and (in) Brazil.

For details, (see here).

note

For and with adjectives, (see here).

For rules about the use of commas, (see here).

For singular and plural verbs after subjects with and, (see here).

For and after try, wait, go, come, etc, (see here).

Fixed expressions: bread and butter, hands and knees

Some common expressions with and have a fixed order which cannot be changed. The shortest expression often comes first.

• bread and butter (not butter and bread)
• hands and knees (not knees and hands)
• young and pretty
• black and white
• thunder and lightning
• cup and saucer
• knife and fork

Note: and is usually pronounced /ənd/, not /ænd/ (see here).

but

But can also join grammatically similar expressions.

• They were poor but happy.
• There were some chairs but no tables.

Most often, but joins clauses.

• We wanted to stay but we simply didn’t have time.
• The film started well, but then it went downhill.

or

Or also joins grammatically similar expressions.

• Would you like tea or coffee?
• We can meet today or wait till Thursday.

After a negative verb, we use or, not and.

• He doesn’t smoke or drink. (not He doesn’t smoke and drink.)

But or does not join negative adjectives or adverbs. Compare:

• We were not comfortable or happy.
• We were uncomfortable and unhappy. (not … uncomfortable or unhappy.)