Quite Random

[Calon]

Knowing as I do this forums general brainy-ness I wish to ask a question about the English language. It may sound basic but I have been in argument over the point for too long. Extended rounds of guiness never help. The question is this...Is it right and proper to start a sentence with And ?
Your help will be warmly welcomed and will more than likely prevent a punch up

Peace and Love

Calon

[poohbcarrot]

"And" is a conjunction whose job is to join two sentences into one.

It ain't right and proper to use it to start a sentence. But people do it. And who am I to stop them. Because you shouldn't also start with "but" and "because". But people do. And I just did too.

I'd say it was more of a guideline than a rule.

Also you shouldn't use state verbs in the continuous form. But McDonalds slogan is, "I'm loving it!" which as far as I know is completely grammatically crap.

[Calon]

I had a feeling you'd know poohbah:) Thanks awfully. And I knew it was nee right:) Cheers poohbah .

[poohbcarrot]

Next time you're in the pub necking Guinness, whip out a mini dictionary and;

If you look up "and" in the dictionary, it says it's a conjunction.

If you look up "conjunction" in the dictionary it says a word that joins phrases or sentences eg; but, or etc

You prove your point

[willowfan]

And should never, ever be used to start a sentence!







Ooops

[Jan Van Quirm]

And it's great for emphasising a point...

Also you shouldn't use state verbs in the continuous form. But McDonalds slogan is, "I'm loving it!" which as far as I know is completely grammatically crap.

Ah those marketing types - so clever with words that reflect the product!

... shouldn't it be - completely crap grammatically?

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

BUT, another conjuction...Our Beloved Terry uses And to start sentences too. Just goes to show that usage Does eventually change things. Just take a look at some of the off the wall words that get put into the Websters Dictionary every year.. GAH, the horror.

[poohbcarrot]

... shouldn't it be - completely crap grammatically?

There should have been a comma

completely, grammatically crap

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

PMSL @ Pooh

[Tina a.k.a.SusanSto.Helit]

Knowing as I do this forums general brainy-ness I wish to ask a question about the English language. It may sound basic but I have been in argument over the point for too long. Extended rounds of guiness never help. The question is this...Is it right and proper to start a sentence with And ?
Your help will be warmly welcomed and will more than likely prevent a punch up

Peace and Love

Calon

Actually, we are all Goobers... as in peanut heads. @ Self

[poohbcarrot]

Goobers? What's a Goober? I'm pretty sure I have never goobed in my whole life. I wouldn't know how to goob

PS I love the way Calon says there might be a punch up, then ends his post "peace and love". So that's peace and love to everyone who DOESN'T use "and" to start a sentence. The rest of you, I'll see you outside at the back of the bike sheds after school.

[swreader]

Next time you're in the pub necking Guinness, whip out a mini dictionary and;

If you look up "and" in the dictionary, it says it's a conjunction.

If you look up "conjunction" in the dictionary it says a word that joins phrases or sentences eg; but, or etc

You prove your point

Sorry Pooh, according to Webster's dictonary, a conjunction is: "an uninfected linguistic form that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases or words."

It is thus perfectly proper to begin a sentence with a conjunction--assuming that stylistically one wishes to join ideas together. Or, as with "but," one may wish to make a distinction from the preceeding sentence.

Thus, one may wish to express one idea in a simple sentence. And one may wish to amplify it with a further exploration in one or more sentences. But one may also wish to point out an important distinction later in the paragraph!

[poohbcarrot]

Sorry Pooh, according to Webster's dictonary, a conjunction is: "an uninfected linguistic form that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases or words."

It is thus perfectly proper to begin a sentence with a conjunction--assuming that stylistically one wishes to join ideas together. Or, as with "but," one may wish to make a distinction from the preceeding sentence.

Thus, one may wish to express one idea in a simple sentence. And one may wish to amplify it with a further exploration in one or more sentences. But one may also wish to point out an important distinction later in the paragraph!

Paragraph one: I agree with.

Paragraph two: I personally don't start sentences with conjunctions, but as I stated in my first post, some people do, so who am I to stop them? I said it wasn't a rule but more of a guideline.

Paragraph three: I would have written that as one sentence, but that's just how I write.

"It was hot. And it was windy. But it wasn't humid."

I don't think the above is well written, but you might think it is. Each to their own tastes

[Perdita X]

Re: paragraph 3 - Scraping your fingernails down the linguistic blackboard there swreader!!

I agree with Poohbcarrot and would further add that not only is it bad writing to use a conjunction to begin a sentence but also invalidates said conjunction - the point of which is surely to join ideas which are either related to the original proposition or in opposition to it within the same sentence.

Why are people afraid to write a long sentence which communicates multiple ideas? I don't subscribe to the German school of sentence construction - which frankly makes one's brain ache in it's complexity (find the verb! - what verb? where's the damn verb - is this the verb? it must be a past participle? and irregular - except it looks like subjunctive - what tense are we in? - I know Wilhelm did something to his neighbour's brother's cat but what? ARRGHHH etc) BUT theres nothing scary about stringing together a few ideas - opposing or otherwise and making a nice sentence.

Jerky tabloid style writing is an abomination unless it's being used stylistically by someone who knows (and can demonstrate within the same piece of writing) the difference!

Hah!

(better just proof read that before posting ....!)

[chris.ph]

do be honest who cares