Lahlah  +  432218 Thu, 18 Oct 07 10:40 PM A co-teacher and I are teaching in a 7th gr. classroom on the topic of subordinating conjunctions.  A student stated today that last year her teacher said, "you should never begin sentences with because."  The co-teacher and I believe differently.  What is/are the general rule(s) pertaining to the word "because?" Lahlah Joined on Thu, Oct 18 2007 New Member 01

	Ant_222  +  432225 Thu, 18 Oct 07 11:12 PM After a brief google search I found this: «A favorite rule of schoolteachers (but curiously absent from the tradition of usage commentary) is that a sentence must not begin with because. Sometimes, however, because is perfectly appropriate as the opening word of a sentence, as in the beginning of one of Emily Dickinson's best-known poems: "Because I could not stop for Death/He kindly stopped for me." In fact, sentences beginning with because are quite common in written English.» (TheFreeDictionary.com) Ant_222 Joined on Sun, May 21 2006 Podolsk, Russia Contributing Member 1,717

	Grammar Geek  +  432238 Fri, 19 Oct 07 12:11 AM Lahlah, welcome to the forums. I think that it's an over-generalization to the "rule" of using a full sentence to answer a question. Why was John late? Because he stopped to help a lady paint her fence vs John was late because he stopped to help a lady paint her fence. Even in formal writing, a sentence can start with Because as long as it's recognized as a dependent clause: Because John stopped to help a lady paint her fence, he was late getting home. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,650 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Clauses

	CalifJim  +  432282 Fri, 19 Oct 07 04:59 AM Welcome to English Forums! I think Grammar Geek hit the nail on the head (although I thought John stopped to help the lady paint her face). What you should not have is really a non-sentence, that is a sentence fragment, that starts with a because clause and never introduces a main clause to go with it. -- Why didn't you finish your spinach? -- Because I don't like it.  << This is the sort of thing that is frowned upon.  It's fine in ordinary conversation, but not in a paper for classwork. Nevertheless, for stylistic reasons, you will probably find that even this construction is used by some authors! CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,379 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche Grammar, Conversations, Constructions, Clauses

	Grammar Geek  +  487703 Wed, 12 Mar 08 01:45 AM Read the prior posts in the this thread. Grammar Geek