Is it bad English to start a sentence with ?And??

[RichUK]

I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

 

[Steve]

It's even worse, to use so many, commas.

 

[laurenlex]

Anand likes And. /and thread

edit: my real engrish is bad

 

[hypn0tik]

It is general practice to not begin sentences with 'And', 'But', 'Because' etc...

 

[tweakmm]

Many many years back one of the smartest, wittiest and most sarcastic person I'd ever had the pleasure of meeting, my AP English 11 teacher, said it best, "Once you know the rules of grammar, you can break them."
And she was a 70 year old woman.

 

[thehstrybean]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik
It is general practice to not begin sentences with 'And', 'But', 'Because' etc...

 

[Inspector Jihad]

i heard that they tell you not to use it in school is because kids will use it in improper way. when you get better writing skills, i think its ok to use it.

 

[Xstatic1]

Originally posted by: RichUK
I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

like u, i was taught, you never ever start sentence with "and". but times have changed...and it's now perfectly okay to do so (i still try not though).

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
i heard that they tell you not to use it in school is because kids will use it in improper way. when you get better writing skills, i think its ok to use it.

And here is the reason why.

 

[Wnh5001]

i dunno, but i havent seen it anywhere, or i just ignore it. and when writing i definitely try not to use and as a sentence starter.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: Xstatic1

Originally posted by: RichUK
I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

like u, i was taught, you never ever start sentence with "and". but times have changed...and it's now perfectly okay to do so (i still try not though).

No offense, but you need to try to work on other things besides starting sentances with conjunctions.

 

[hypn0tik]

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: Xstatic1

Originally posted by: RichUK
I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

like u, i was taught, you never ever start sentence with "and". but times have changed...and it's now perfectly okay to do so (i still try not though).

No offense, but you need to try to work on other things besides starting sentances with conjunctions.

And you need to work on spelling.

 

[bobdelt]

You can, if you use it properly. An 'and' will start a subbordinating clause, you need the main clause somewhere in there too to make it a sentence. (I think, I'm really just BSing but i might be right)

I.E.

And because Billy Bob had no money, he could not purchase the hot prostitute.

 

[Ika]

My 3rd grade teacher taught never to start a sentence with "and or but unless you're rich or famous." Apparently, it worked, because I never consciously do it.

 

[tweakmm]

Originally posted by: hypn0tik

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: Xstatic1

Originally posted by: RichUK
I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

like u, i was taught, you never ever start sentence with "and". but times have changed...and it's now perfectly okay to do so (i still try not though).

No offense, but you need to try to work on other things besides starting sentances with conjunctions.

And you need to work on spelling.

I can't deny this, but spell check works, grammar check doesn't.
I just need to get freaking OSX to underline misspelled words in cocoa apps again like it used to.

 

[Zenmervolt]

http://wsu.edu/~brians/errors/nonerrors.html#conjunction

It's standard english to allow beginning a sentence with a conjunction. From the above link:

"Beginning a sentence with a conjunction
It offends those who wish to confine English usage in a logical straitjacket that writers often begin sentences with ?and? or ?but.? True, one should be aware that many such sentences would be improved by becoming clauses in compound sentences; but there are many effective and traditional uses for beginning sentences thus. One example is the reply to a previous assertion in a dialogue: ?But, my dear Watson, the criminal obviously wore expensive boots or he would not have taken such pains to scrape them clean.? Make it a rule to consider whether your conjunction would repose more naturally within the previous sentence or would lose in useful emphasis by being demoted from its position at the head of a new sentence."

ZV

 

[RichUK]

Thanks for the info guys. With an effort of never starting a sentence with ?And?, I did sometimes feel constricted in what I wanted to convey.

I now need to make sure if I start a sentence with ?And?, I do so correctly.

 

[Vertimus]

Depends on what style you're following. Most styles do not have problems with beginning a sentence with a conjunction. The SAT however, is different.

 

[Staples]

The worst abomination is when people start with "So."

That is what bugs me the most and a lot of people do it.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Staples
The worst abomination is when people start with "So."

That is what bugs me the most and a lot of people do it.

So, this bugs you huh?

 

[tk149]

This entire thread needs help. Please tell me that your first language is not English.

 

[MmmSkyscraper]

Originally posted by: RichUK
I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

LOL, don't even go there. Spelling and grammar checkers have been known to beg for mercy when forced to check the scribblings on ATOT

 

[RapidSnail]

No it is not. Just look at the Bible .

 

[SirStev0]

Who cares. English changes its rules every 15 minutes. Everything is free form now a days anyway. Class to class you get told different rules for different days. I personally think for the most part that as long as it makes sense it is fine to use. Judging someones arguement based on grammer rules is ridiculous.

 

[SirStev0]

Originally posted by: tweakmm

Originally posted by: Xstatic1

Originally posted by: RichUK
I?ve always thought, and had been taught, that you never start a sentence with ?And?.

However, I have read a few American articles written by people that seem to have good English language skills, yet they have started several sentences with ?And?. I have also seen on numerous occasions, people on here start a sentence with ?And?.

So I am confused. Would someone with a better understanding of the English language, like to fill me in?

like u, i was taught, you never ever start sentence with "and". but times have changed...and it's now perfectly okay to do so (i still try not though).

No offense, but you need to try to work on other things besides starting sentances with conjunctions.

Ouchy... here comes the spell check police to arrests the grammer agent.