Comments on: Can And or But Begin a Sentence?

By: Lee Hoover

Lee Hoover — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:07:58 +0000

The conversations about beginning a sentence with “because” are missing the obvious. The examples you have used are adverb clauses that are serving as an introductory phrase to the sentence. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to start a sentence with “because” when it’s functioning as part of an introductory phrase. Additionally, the rules of grammar are supposed to be founded in common sense, just like the rules of golf. Look into what is behind the rule. Conjuctions link independent phrases that are related to each other. Why would you want to satrt a sentence with a conjunction? I see no need. Just because a famous writer or someone on the internet is taking liberty with a rule doesn’t mean we should abandon grammar. If people started breaking the rules of golf, should we all. We would change the game. Everyone would be playing there own version of golf. If anything we should unify the rules of grammar so they weren’t so ambiguous.

I read a site the other day that said we should eliminate commas altogether. As a teacher, this really frustrates me. Why not eliminate periods as well? Commas help a person read with understanding. When my students don’t use commas, I have to read the sentence several times to try to understand what they are trying to say. Eliminating commas doesn’t speed up reading, as the writer suggested, but slows down the process.

By: Kel

Kel — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:16:59 +0000

My teacher said you are allowed to start a sentence with “and”. But some do not agree with this. However, there is nothing wrong with starting a sentence with “because” if you follow it with an independent clause. For example, “Because she needed eggs, she went to the grocery store,” is a grammatically correct sentence. If you take out the clause, it would be a phrase. Another phantom rule is apparently ending a sentence with a preposition. I generally think sometimes it can be acceptable; the only thing that really bothers me is when people end their sentences with ‘at’.

By: ivana

ivana — Wed, 11 May 2011 17:25:20 +0000

I think it’s important, if one is beginning a sentence with a conjunction, to do it sparingly and to have a reason for doing it. (Well done, Andrew Toynbee!) I am writing an article to be published in a national magazine and the editor changed a series of sentences so that one of those sentences begins with “And.” It bothers me, and yet I understand why she did it. It makes sense to do this and I suppose I can live with it. However, she uses a teeth-gritting comma after the pesky “And.” Thanks for confirming that I didn’t grit my teeth for a silly little whim, but an important grammatical rule. You are all the best!

By: Andrew Toynbee

Andrew Toynbee — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:27:26 +0000

And then there’s always;

‘Ellen crept into the old house, aware that it had been swept several times for supernatural presences and had been deemed to be safe.
But she hadn’t counted on the deviousness of the Boggart.
And his accomplice, the Poltergeist’

By: Andrew Toynbee

Andrew Toynbee — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 08:25:50 +0000

As an aspiring author, I’ve often thrown in a ‘but’ at the start for dramatic effect.

‘Ellen crept into the old house, aware that it had been swept several times for supernatural presences and had been deemed to be safe.
But she hadn’t counted on the deviousness of the Boggart.’

If not overused, it can be turned to good dramatic effect.