Specifies the columns on which the join is based. Column names must be defined in both table references specified in the qualified join. The USING clause implies an equijoin condition between columns of the same name and creates a common column in the result. SQL> SELECT * cont> FROM TABLE1 LEFT OUTER JOIN TABLE2 cont> USING (C1); C1 TABLE1.C2 TABLE2.C4 10 15 AA 20 25 CC 30 35 NULL 3 rows selected The common columns are coalesced into a single column in the result in the previous example. Therefore, such columns cannot be qualified. You can reference the coalesced column in a query. For example: SQL> SELECT * cont> FROM TABLE1 LEFT OUTER JOIN TABLE2 cont> USING (C1) cont> WHERE C1 BETWEEN 20 AND 30; C1 TABLE1.C2 TABLE2.C4 20 25 CC 30 35 NULL 2 rows selected