Starting a sentence with And or But
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Re: Starting a sentence with And or But
- Waragu Samuel
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But in scientific journals, technical writings, the better discretion might be to refrain from using these two when starting a sentence.
...To delineate the times that lovers miss,
...A thousand dreams can't beat a single kiss.
-reyvrex (Love Sonnet 107)
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Btw, here is a fun quote by Merriam-Webster about it. I mean, where do we stop?
Some people may remember learning the mnemonic FANBOYS when studying the coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. And some instructors also still use this as means of explaining which words should not be given the chance to lead the parade. But it's slightly ridiculous to insist that these words should never be used to begin a sentence, when a thousand years of English writing has shown this to be a fine way to start off.
If you’re going to create a silly-sounding acronym to list these words, then go whole-hog and list all of the words that schoolchildren have been told not to put at the beginnings of sentences over the past 200 years. We crafted one for you that helpfully looks like a web address: WWWFLASHYBONNBAN, which stands, obviously, for whether, well, why, for, likewise, and, so, however, yet, but, or, nor, now, because, also, nevertheless.
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Love the quote. I would agree that it is okay sometimes, but other times, it just doesn't work. Knowing the difference can be difficult.kislany wrote:Bit late to the topic, but starting sentences with a coordinating conjunction is certainly ok these days. Merriam Webster, the Oxford Dictionaries, CMOS, Garner’s Modern American Usage, Fowler’s Modern English Usage, Collins Dictionary, The Guardian and Observer Style, even The Elements of Style by Strunk Jr. & E. B. White say it's ok. The only person has ever told me it's not ok was my English teacher. And I certainly respect the above-mentioned entities more than the old rigid teacher who was hitting my fingers with a ruler every time I would misspell a word. (Yes, I used "And" here on purpose.)
Btw, here is a fun quote by Merriam-Webster about it. I mean, where do we stop?
- kislany
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[/quote]kislany wrote: The only person has ever told me it's not ok was my English teacher. And I certainly respect the above-mentioned entities more than the old rigid teacher who was hitting my fingers with a ruler every time I would misspell a word. (Yes, I used "And" here on purpose.)
I'm totally with you. It's bad form to start every sentence with a conjunction, but it's hardly a mistake. We do it all the time, and there's no reason not to do it in writing.
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One cannot strain their utility as far as I may not ward off the meaningfulness they foster. Legitimate standard expression with familiar grinding.
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It's also about formal vs informal (blogs, Facebook posts, emails, etc). If it's stylistic, it would only be used once or twice in a short writing (such as a review). There are many other ways to start a sentence, which should be considered if you find you've used them more than once or twice in a short piece.
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