Beginning a Sentence with And or But

Beginning a Sentence with And or But Beginning a Sentence with And or But Beginning a Sentence with And or But By Maeve Maddox Several opinions about what is permissible in writing have acquired an almost religious authority with some English speakers. One of these opinions is that beginning a sentence with the coordinating conjunctions and and but is an unpardonable breach of usage. Here are some typical reader attitudes: I almost fainted when I read [a post] about the acceptability of beginning sentences with â€Å"and† or â€Å"but†. [How can anyone] justify the use of conjunctions to begin a sentence? It simply drives me crazy! Writers of English have been beginning sentences with and as long as English has been written. The Venerable Bede (672-735) did it. King Alfred (849-899) did it. You’ll also find examples in Swift (1667-1745), Johnson (1709-1784), Austen (1775-1817), Dickens (1812-1870), Orwell (1903-1950), and Roth (1933-). According to The Chicago Manual of Style, the belief that beginning a sentence with and, but, or so is an error â€Å"has no historical or grammatical foundation.† Not only that, but â€Å"a substantial percentage (often as many as 10 percent) of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions. It has been so for centuries, and even the most conservative grammarians have followed this practice† (CMOS 5.206). Authors capable of â€Å"first-rate writing† are one matter. Teachers, on the other hand (and editors working with grammatically challenged adults) are wise to advise against it. Writing is a craft. Every craft demands that beginners learn in stages. A rule against beginning a sentence with a conjunction has pedagogical usefulness. Beginning writers benefit from being guided. They don’t need to have all the rules and exceptions dumped on them at the outset. My London headmistress forbade the use of semicolons. She said that semicolons could wait until students mastered the use of commas and periods. Her rule was intended to be transitional. Beginning writers overuse the conjunction and. Giving inexperienced writers permission to begin sentences with and is asking for trouble. Here, for example, is an excerpt from the writing of nine-year-old Daisy Ashford: Mr Salteena had dark short hair and mustache and whiskers which were very black and twisty. He was middle sized and he had very pale blue eyes With this style of writing, a rule against beginning a sentence with and can only be a blessing. In my teaching days, I forbade students to begin a sentence with because, not because I didn’t know about complex sentences, but because inexperienced writers tend to begin sentences with because and never get to a main clause. A practice that exacerbates this tendency in high school students is accepting sentence fragments as answers to essay questions on tests. For example: Question: Why did Silas put Eppie in the coal hole? Answer: Because she kept wandering away. Teachers of every subject could contribute to a higher standard of student writing by requiring students to rephrase the question in the answer: Question: Why did Silas put Eppie in the coal hole? Answer: Silas put Eppie in the coal hole because she kept wandering away. When students have learned to distinguish between a main clause and a dependent clause, they can progress to the use of because to introduce a subordinate clause. When they have learned to control their use of coordinating conjunctions, they can use them at the beginning of a sentence from time to time. Here are two examples from the work of writers known for â€Å"first-rate writing†: Besides, another purpose of the enlarged armywas to minimize the ever-present possibility of sedition. And with this purpose once again in mind, [Septimus Severus] took a number of steps to make the officers of the legions a privileged class and tie them firmly to his own person. –Michael Grant, History of Rome. If he charged, I could shoot; if he took no notice of me, it would be safe to leave him until the mahout came back. But also I knew that I was going to do no such thing. –George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant Like any stylistic device, beginning a sentence with and or but may be overused or used incorrectly. A common fault with but is to use it where and is required. But is an â€Å"adversative conjunction.† It introduces a contrast. Some writers tend to begin a sentence with but when and is the appropriate choice. Here’s a revision suggestion from The Chicago Manual of Style: Evaluate the contrasting force of the but in question, and see whether the needed word is really and; if and can be substituted, then but is almost certainly the wrong word. Bottom line: Beginning a sentence with and or but is a common stylistic device used in English by the best writers of every century. Writers who dislike the device are free to avoid it. Forbidding it to inexperienced writers has pedagogical value, but condemning it out of hand is to set a fetish above English idiom. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:What Is Irony? (With Examples)Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous15 Idioms for Periods of Time

Four Presidential Election Candidate in 2000 Essays

Four Presidential Election Candidate in 2000 Essays Four Presidential Election Candidate in 2000 Paper Four Presidential Election Candidate in 2000 Paper Vice-President Al Gore is one of three Democrat candidates for the 2000 presidential election. His policies and views often reflect those of a liberal politician, but in fact, his policies are just a reflection of the changing Democratic policies. From his stance on abortion, to his beliefs on the death penalty, the traditional Democratic views are apparent. Gore led the fight in the Congress to stop the drug companies price gouging, and make generic drugs more available. As President, He plans to address issues like the Patients rights bill, that puts important medical descisions in the hands of the docotr, rather than the HMOs. He looks to protect Medicare, not abolish it, while adding prescription coverage to the program. Gore supports cutting tax rates, something also Clinton promised, but found very difficult to do. He doesn’t support the replacement of the current tax structure with a flat income tax, therefore eliminating the entire income tax sytem. He opposes the national sales tax, and supports the a marriage penalty relief on the marriage tax by raising the standard deduction. : In a debate that included the other two Democratic candidates, Gore discussed his opinion on gays in the military. He believes that gays should have the right to openly serve in the military, he supports full disclosure of gays, and that its a fundamental decency. He later commented that when appointng Joint Chiefs of the military, he wouldnt only choose those who supported his policy, but choose those who follow orders from the Commander-in-Chief, the President. Gore cosponsored a bill that would create federal funding for campaigns in exchange for limits on campaign spending, and he still support that idea today. He supported the McCain-Feingold bill that would limit campaign spending and control special-interest influence in elections. As for PAC contributions (non-United States contributors),he does not except and contributionst that go above what is required by law. He has and would support banning or limiting PAC contributions as part of a comprehensive campaign finance reform package. He supports a ban on soft money, as long as the Republican Party agrees as well. Bill Bradley, the suposed under-dog in the race, is also a Democratic candidate with views that could be confused with those of a Liberal. He said that he will stay in the race as long as possible, no matter what the primaries say. He seems to match Gore in many ways, including issues and camaign money. To battle our weak health care system, Bradley has proposes to many changes, and opportunities to provide for American society as a whole, no matter their coverage, age, health conditon, or financial status. He suggested allowing people to join the federal plan that covers members of Congress and federal employess if they arent happy with their current providers, subsidizing the poor, and partially subsidzing those with a middle income. He proposes personal income tax deductions for health care premiums, and guaranteed coverage for all children. Portable health care will be available, so one had a provider even after losing their job. He plans to protect Medicare, and include a prescription plan for seniors, along with a home-care system. His plan will cost $55-65 billion dollars a year, and he believes At a time of economic prosperity, no person should be forced to choose between the care they need, and the care they can afford. When it comes to taxes, Bradley plans to increase access to health insurance for all Americans by making health insurance premiums excludable from income, giving everyone a tax break similar to that provided to employers who provide insurance, work to simplify the tax code. He wants to eliminate all the loopholes that the wealthy slip through, that catch the middle class instead. Like Gore, Bradley supports the right of gays to serve in the military. He supports the dont ask, dont tell legislation in place already, and points out that There have been gays in the military as long as theres been a military. Theyve only had to hide Bradley does not support the use of soft money, and encourages the other candiates not to also. He proposed a plan that would restore trust in the Presidency. His plan included everything from free TV time for candidates, curbed issue ads, requiring of advocacy groups to diclose thir spending, to a study on the possibility to vote over the Internet. He believes a trust-worthy candidate should flash their ideas and aspirations, not the wieght of their wallets. John McCain, the first Republican to be discussed in this paper, is very different from the Democrats we have just profiled. He is conservative, like most Republicans, yet expresses an urge for change in America. McCain belives that it is necessary that the health care system is reformed to help uninsured Americans receive the access to quality health care they need. To do this he plans to make sure that all those who are eligible for pograms like Medicaid, are enrolled, work with all those invloved in the health care system (employers, providers, etc.) to increase the number and range of health care options, particulalry the poor and children, and reforming the entire systme to make it more affordable. McCain has proposed some drastic changes in the tax system. They include dramatically increasing the number of taxpayers eligible for the lowest 15% tax bracket, eliminating the obscene penalty that increases taxes for couples who get married, and providing tax incentives to promote family saving and investment. When it comes to the gays in the military issue, McCain says that he would make sure that a policy thats working, and is working, and should work, is continued. He believes that when people like General Colin Powell and other most respected men in America come up with a policy that does work it can have troubles with it, it may need some reviews or changes, fine tuning, and hell support such a thing. However, he will not change a policy thats working. Our military leaders are the ones whose advice we should rely on. McCain understands that soft money corrupts political ideals whether it comes from big business or from labor bosses and trial lawyers. The influence of money is corrupting candidates ability to address the problems that directly affect the lives of every American. Reform of the campaign financing laws is one the first changes McCain plans to address. He supports Legislative limits on campaign financing and the banning of soft-money donations. The fourth candidate, the second Republican, is Alan Keyes. He is a conservative Republican with his Christian values and morals, turning this election very much into a character debate. Keyes points out on his web site, that he does not support a federaly funded health program. He thinks the government should not protect us from the health care providers, but only make it easier to access it. He will make it his priority to fulfill his Constitutional role as chief executive so that the American regime of ordered liberty can flourish. Keyes suports the elimination of the income tax, and replacing it with a national sales tax. He believes it would rejuvenate independence and responsibility in our citizens. He also supports limits on both tax revenue and borrowing, to discourage the Federal government from future excessive spending. Keyes is very open on the discussion of gays in the military. He said at one debate that he does not support the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy because the military is supposed to be a straight (no pun intnended) forward institution, where when asked, the soldier tells, get the truth, get honesty, get honor. So in order for honor to be received, then gays should be forward about their sexuality. If that means bad morale, bad discipline, then the government should stand against it because its bad for the military in general. He supports the ban on gays in the military completely. Keyes believes that when the government steps in with campaign finance reform it’s a total violation of our Constitutional rights. Keyes opposes Legislative limits on campaign financing, also opposes contributions from anyone but citizens with voting rights, he also opposes Banning soft-money donations.