Can You Start Sentences with “And” or “But”?

In the past, English teachers used to preach that one should never start a sentence with conjunctions like and or but. Does this rule still apply today?

Not entirely. It is already acceptable to start sentences with such conjunctions. Some authorities, in fact, even defend that for some cases conjunctions will do a better job than more formal constructions. Here is a quotation from Ernest Gowers addressing the usage of and on the beginning of sentences:

That it is a solecism to begin a sentence with and is a faintly lingering superstition. The OED gives examples ranging from the 10th to the 19th c.; the Bible is full of them.

While it is acceptable to use such conjunctions to start a sentence, you should still use them carefully and efficiently, else your text might become choppy.

Secondly, many people still regard such usage as informal. If you are writing a formal piece or if you are not sure how your audience might react to conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence, you could substitute them with more formal terms. Below you will find some examples.

But I am still awaiting his reply.

Can be written as:

However, I am still awaiting his reply.
Although I am still awaiting his reply.
Nevertheless, I am still awaiting his reply.

And she was running very fast.

Can be written as:

Moreover, she was running very fast.
In addition, she was running very fast.
Furthermore, she was running very fast.

Daniel Scocco on August 14, 2007 Subscribe to our RSS Feed

Bookmark

11 Responses to “Can You Start Sentences with “And” or “But”?”

Tom on August 14th, 2007 4:34 pm

Don’t you mean “waiting for his reply” ?
Alan on August 14th, 2007 4:57 pm

Or ‘awaiting’.
Daniel on August 14th, 2007 5:09 pm

Thanks for the heads up, just added the missing a.

Perhaps this is a good topic for another post, waiting vs. awaiting .
Peter Garner on August 14th, 2007 6:03 pm

To my mind, starting a sentence with somthing like “however” is just the same (maybe worse, in fact) than starting a sentence with “and.” I have no problem with the practice myself. “And” can be a useful and effective way of emphasizing a point.

And speaking of “however,” you could probably lose it in your third paragraph.

(Sorry, couldn’t pass that up.
Daniel on August 14th, 2007 6:47 pm

Peter, the whole discussion about starting sentences with conjunctions like “and” or “but” probably emerged because conjunctions, by definition, are words that are used to connect clauses (and not to start them!).

However, on the other hand, is an adverb.

By yeah I agree that however looks better between commas and not at the beginning for the sentence. I placed it there to make it parallel to the “but” on the example.
Dylan on August 20th, 2007 5:06 pm

And she was running very fast

Can be written as:
She was running very fast.

The “and” is implied, by virtue of the fact that there are preceeding ideas. “She” has probably been the subject before.

In many cases “but” can be omitted for similar reasons. Since “I am still awaiting his reply” comes presumably after the ideas related to it.
Jill Monterey on March 21st, 2008 2:29 am

Yikes, are you seriously saying that “Although I am still awaiting his reply” is a complete sentence? “Although” starts a dependent clause where I come from.
Peter J. on August 26th, 2008 1:05 pm

Why are we trying to altar the English language as we know it? I for the life of me can’t understand starting a sentence with however, and or but.

It appears to me that this follows the whole idea of dumbing us down to accomodate more people who find it too difficult to learn or teach.

Don’t tell me that some sentences in the Bible start with and or but because the Bible for the most part was written several thousand years ago and none of the writers spoke English!!!

Sorry but this just irritates me but then maybe it’s because I am too old.
Michelle E. on September 15th, 2008 8:29 am

As a current high school student, I find that this rule is rarely enforced at all. Consequently, I’ve always thought of it as an old-fashioned rule that you really didn’t have to follow unless you wanted to- like using the Oxford comma.

As a result, I occasionally start my sentences with “and” or “however”(which I consider to be the equivalent of “but”), even in formal essays, and none of my English teachers have yet to make note of it.

In fact, I’ve grown so used to using “however” to start my sentences that I would probably feel quite crippled if I suddenly just stopped. Yet on the other hand, I did notice that my writing sounded much better, albeit a bit unlike my usual style, once I rephrased all the sentences starting with “and”.
rbeatty01 on October 16th, 2008 9:26 pm

And I would like to start all my sentences with conjuctions. But I was taught not to. Yet I do so in defiance. For I will not fall victim to obtuse conventions. Nor succumb to insane rants. So forgive me, those who feel otherwise. Or not.