Sunday, March 28, 2010

Can you start a sentence with however?

Our question this week continues the theme of rules that teachers make up to help young students write correctly. The answer is yes, you can start a sentence with however.

Once you start your sentence with however, however, you must make a decision about comma use. If the word however is used as a transition word, you use a comma after it.

The chef prepared the fish exquisitely. However, the service at the restaurant was terrible.
If it is used to mean “in whatever way,” you do not put a comma after it.

However you look at it, you win.

The reason teachers advise students not to start a sentence with however is that by doing so you often lose an opportunity to emphasize part of the sentence. In the first example above, I could have emphasized the contrast between the cooking and the service by placing however later in the sentence between two commas like this:

The chef prepared the fish exquisitely. The restaurant’s service, however, was terrible.

So go ahead. Start sentences with however. But consider whether you could get more mileage out of it by placing it after the specific idea you are contrasting.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Can you start a sentence with because?

A frequently asked question from my grammar classes is this one: Can you start a sentence with because? The short answer is, yes, if you make sure it is in fact a complete sentence. The longer answer is not an answer, but a question: where did you get the idea that you could not?

First, the short answer. You can start a sentence with because, as long as you make sure to fully complete the sentence. One clause beginning with the word because does not constitute a sentence. These are fragments:

*Because the newspapers reported it.*
*Because the river ran dry.*

If you follow the clause beginning with because with a complete independent clause, however, you are in business. These are complete sentences:

Because the newspapers reported it, the neighbors believed it.
Because the river ran dry, the dam would no longer provide electricity.

Now, the long answer. My theory as to why so many people think you cannot start a sentence with because is that school teachers use this “rule” to help students avoid writing fragments like the ones in asterisks above. You may find this rule useful yourself if you are prone to this error. Thus, if you do not allow yourself to start a sentence with because, you will automatically correct fragments beginning with because.

You might correct this fragment:

*Because I said so.*

By creating this complete sentence:

The children stayed inside this afternoon because I said so.

You may also correct fragments like the ones in asterisks above by rewriting so that because is not at the beginning:

The neighbors believed the story because the newspaper reported it.
The dam would no longer provide electricity because the river ran dry.

*Asterisks indicate a grammatically incorrect sentence.