Guest  +  16101 Tue, 16 Dec 03 10:13 PM I was always taught that you should never begin a sentence with the words: and or but, etc...is this true, because recently a professional writer said that you can begin a sentence that way and she does so all the time. Guest

	Mike in Japan  +  16106 Wed, 17 Dec 03 12:32 AM I was taught the same thing. Generally, conjunctions should be used to join clauses, not to begin sentences. Does anyone have an other opinion? Mike in Japan Joined on Tue, Aug 19 2003 Senior Member 4,371 I do like to be beside the seaside Clauses

	suzi  +  18821 Sat, 10 Jan 04 07:16 PM it is one of those pretty pointless old rules, some ppl will still be sniffy about it. Indeed, it still seems odd to me to see "and" as sentencer opener, "but" seems increasingly OK, if the situation needs it! suzi Joined on Wed, Jan 7 2004 Full Member 465

	louisthu  +  18829 Sat, 10 Jan 04 09:02 PM Instead of AND, you can also start the sentence with 'In addition, Furthermore, Moreover'. Those have the same meaning of And. Instead of starting the sentence with But, I join the two sentence. ex.. I am ............ ,but ............... (1st sentence + comma + but+ 2nd sentence) louisthu Joined on Fri, Jan 2 2004 New Member 26 Commas

	pedant  +  18860 Sun, 11 Jan 04 06:57 AM It is still a point of contention, but most authorities now accept "and" and "but" as perfectly good ways to begin sentences. Lord knows the Bible is filled with such examples. pedant Joined on Thu, Dec 18 2003 Full Member 104

	suzi  +  18889 Sun, 11 Jan 04 11:16 AM The Bible and Shakespeare and anyone else who wrote their texts pre-1760 are full of such examples, cos that's (approximately) the date when the "rule book" that has shaped our sense of "correct" style was published! suzi Dates

	Elena  +  18893 Sun, 11 Jan 04 12:51 PM I understand official documents have to be written following rules and exam papers, essays, practical reports, and so, too. But if you are talking about Literature all styles are valid. That's my view. Remember how trellis answered questions here at EF? He had his personal style that made his anwsers look like pieces of painting, he alternated lines with several words followed by lines with an unique word, those unique words used to be "and", "but". Besides, he added humour to the anwers and this, plus his accurate explanations were very good for us because we didn't have to put any effort in remembering, the rule or the explanation got impressed in mind easily. I miss his answers, he even was willing to proofread long writings, not only short questions about Grammar or usage, so good teacher and everything for free!This EF site is a marvel for students, I hope it continue like this for decades Elena Joined on Thu, Jul 31 2003 Regular Member 827 Enjoying my English study Grammar, Literature, Essays