Lots of people are trained not to start a sentence with the...

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Question by Barbara
Submitted on 5/19/2004
Related FAQ: The alt.usage.english FAQ
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Lots of people are trained not to start a sentence with the word "but." Is this a rule or a convention to which some people adhere and others don't. I have checked "The Chicago Manual of Style," Strunk and White, and "The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage" -- all under "conjunctions." I cannot find any authority for this practice. Can anybody help me out.

Answer by Inc
Submitted on 6/21/2004
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http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/b.html#but

Answer by Darken
Submitted on 11/9/2005
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There isn't a single rule in the entire language that says you can't use "And" or "But" to start a sentence. In fact, there hasn't been a single great writer that refrained fully from using conjunctions to start their sentences. And, if any teacher tells you that you shouldn't, your reply should be "but I already have."

Answer by armel
Submitted on 2/12/2006
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The 15th Edition of the Chicago Manual of Style has the answer. Check out 5.191.

Answer by jamesc field
Submitted on 2/10/2007
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Many writers use conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence. Some of them are respected writers. [But... (ha-ha)] I have found that in no case in my extensive reading have any instances of this linguistic abuse removed or or altered the meaning of the subsequent sentence fragment. They simply serve no purpose. I feel that the use of and, but, or or, etc. are the written equivalents of oral utterances like uh.. eh.. so.. ah, at the beginning of a spoken sentence and is just a poor substitute for well-considered and well-constructed sentences. Simply put: it is best to avoid unhelpful parts of speech when writing. It is best to be simple and clear.

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