Hunter Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 When posting online, I am increasingly starting sentences with "but" and other coordinating conjunctions, instead of using a comma and continuing the previous sentence. My priority is to reach my audience, many of whom are reading on phones and tablets. As shorter sentences are becoming more common, are any style guides actually advocating starting sentences with coordinating conjunctions in certain circumstancrs? I've noticed that the current NIrV Bible starts sentences with coordinating conjunctions as the default, not an exception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 It's not actually incorrect, nor has it been. http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/can-i-start-a-sentence-with-a-conjunction But ( :tongue_smilie: ) some people believe it is, so I told my son to be careful with it in some situations. I gave him similar advice on the oxford comma. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Goshdarnitalltoheck! There goes my naughty rebellious little girl thrill every time I start a sentence with a conjunction. Thank you anyway; I was going to have 7yods do "And don't start a sentence with a conjunction." from William Safire's "Great Rules of writing": http://www.maximumawesome.com/reference/g-safire.htm for copywork and now I know better. :P 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElizaG Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I do it all the time, probably too much, but have stopped worrying about it in casual contexts. In my case, I think it's partly a result of studying French for many years. They teach and use a large number of terms that show the logical relation between different parts of a passage. Even though I've never become very fluent in the language, it seems to have affected my thinking and writing in general. http://www.laloi.ca/outils/marqueurs.html Google Translate English version of the above In English, there are far fewer such terms -- as can be seen in the machine translation! -- and many of them sound a bit pretentious in everyday speech (thus, nevertheless, notwithstanding...), or as if you're an elementary school child cranking out a formulaic paragraph (firstly, next, finally...). But I like the logical structure. So I just use the short words. :D ETA: My favorite part of the translated page is when Pourtant Néanmoins Toutefois Cependant becomes: However However However However :laugh: 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I agree that it's not incorrect. It's not always great style when you're writing formally. But, yes, I think separating stuff out when you're posting online helps the readability. There are a bunch of style things that work well for internet forums that aren't good for formal writing. Shorter sentences, shorter paragraphs, etc. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 When posting online, I am increasingly starting sentences with "but" and other coordinating conjunctions, instead of using a comma and continuing the previous sentence. My priority is to reach my audience, many of whom are reading on phones and tablets. As shorter sentences are becoming more common, are any style guides actually advocating starting sentences with coordinating conjunctions in certain circumstances? I've noticed that the current NIrV Bible starts sentences with coordinating conjunctions as the default, not an exception. "They" say that, but I've seen it written even in R&S English texts, which you know are not trendy in any way, so I'm not going to get too twisted about it. :-) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 It is a stylistic choice, not a grammatical one. I manage a group of writers at a large high tech company. The trend is very much to encourage simple and bold writing with much more informal styles. The styles we advocate now are vastly different than what we did 15 years ago. We actually has this very discussion (argument) in a training course last month. Imagine about 80 opinionated professional writers trying to make their case about it! Good times! The key is always to know your audience and purpose. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted October 5, 2015 Author Share Posted October 5, 2015 It is a stylistic choice, not a grammatical one. I manage a group of writers at a large high tech company. The trend is very much to encourage simple and bold writing with much more informal styles. The styles we advocate now are vastly different than what we did 15 years ago. We actually has this very discussion (argument) in a training course last month. Imagine about 80 opinionated professional writers trying to make their case about it! Good times! The key is always to know your audience and purpose. Thank you everyone! Deerforest, I would have liked to have been able to listen in on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I open with conjunctions in informal writing. Why? I think it communicates the tone, emphasizing the latter bit rather than letting it trail off as an aside. "I stubbed my toe. And, now I'm bleeding." I do not do that in formal writing. I learned to write oldschool style in the 90s. It would feel like breaking the law. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I open with conjunctions in informal writing. Why? I think it communicates the tone, emphasizing the latter bit rather than letting it trail off as an aside. "I stubbed my toe. And, now I'm bleeding." I do not do that in formal writing. I learned to write oldschool style in the 90s. It would feel like breaking the law. I think there should be more emphasis on the difference between informal and formal writing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'm a giant but and and fan. (I just said I'm a giant butt!) I wouldn't write like that in formal communication, but I mostly communicate informally. And I like it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 I'm a giant but and and fan. (I just said I'm a giant butt!) :smilielol5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 IIRC, a comma should follow "But" when it is the first word in a sentence. I like it because it is succinct. There are better choices for formal writing, "however" being the most obvious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudboy Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 When I was a magazine editor working on articles that people got paid to write, I did more changes of lab-report-style writing and corporate-style writing to informal than the other way around. But it's good to know how to write lab reports for when you do take a lab class. If I had a choice, though, I'd practice natural writing and let the editor "correct" it later if he or she really feels the need. (But don't listen to me. I use the Internet form of 'because" -- http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/english-has-a-new-preposition-because-internet/281601/-- and never learned to diagram a sentence, because snow day.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeWillSoar Posted October 16, 2015 Share Posted October 16, 2015 I'm reading The Lively Art of Writing, and I noticed that there are many sentences beginning with "but." 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsuga Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 I do tell my children, when they begin sentences with "but mom..." that I'm not a Butt Mom and they can go straight to their rooms for saying so. Other than that, give yourself some slack. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted October 17, 2015 Share Posted October 17, 2015 With kids learning to write, I tend to discourage it, but that is mostly because they tend to rely too much on the same kinds of phrases. Often on the internet I'm writing the way I would speak, so I don't try and make it sound like formal writing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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