After reading in a high school textbook that student writers should avoid beginning sentences with conjunctions in "formal" writing, I reached for the two most formal books on my shelf: Sir Randolph Quirk's "Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language" and Albert Baugh's "Literary History of England." In the former, a sentence beginning with "yet" occurs in the second paragraph of the Preface and a sentence beginning with "but" occurs in the first paragraph of Chapter One. In Baugh, "nor" introduces a sentence in the first paragraph of the Preface and "but" introduces a sentence in the first paragraph of Chapter One. I couldn't help noticing the subjects of the sentences in Quirk's Preface: The opening sentence has a long prep phrase and his second sentence opens with "In 1972," followed by "there," but after that, his subjects are "this," "these two," this," and "it." I've done quite a bit of research on sentence openings; it demonstrates that professional writers vary their sentence openings very little. About two-thirds of the time, they open with the subjects of their sentences; about ten percent of the time, they open with prepositional phrases. Ed S On May 16, 2009, at 3:38 PM, Craig Hancock wrote: > Ed, > I think one of the reasons FANBOY connectives often start > sentences is > that conjunctions like "but" and "so" don't always simply connect two > clauses, but often signal a shift in meaning that can follow several > sentences and/or begin many more. > "She was always friendly. She always smiled. No one could fault her > everyday politeness. But something about her seemed cold." The "but in > a sequence like that marks a shift in thinking rather than a > connection > to the previous clause. > This is not just a hypothetical example. It happens very, very > often in > the best writing. > Students come to college thinking they know a few things about > grammar, > and one of them is that "You shouldn't start a sentence with...." and > that list includes "and", "but", "because", sometimes suprising things > like "I." I don't see any reason for the rule. I would go even > further--it is a foolish rule and foolish advice. > I don't believe a single finite clause that starts with "for" is a > fragment in traditional grammar. A single clause that starts with > "because" would be. The details would differ, but Zwicky's overall > point, that the two are not the same, is backed up. > > Craig > > I agree that it's not a problem for Zwicky's description (which, >> thanks to Herb, I now have a clearer picture of), but sentences--- >> indeed, paragraphs---beginning with FANBOYS connectives are quite a >> problem for a great many English teachers, even though as Craig >> pointed out earlier, college handbooks have never banned the >> practice. Warriner neither approved nor disapproved, but a recent >> Warriner clone warns against the practice in "formal writing." >> >> Ed >> >> On May 14, 2009, at 9:18 PM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote: >> >>> I don't think a for-initial fragment where "for" means "because" >>> would be a problem for Zwicky's description, precisely because it's >>> a fragment and so would be interpretable as being the second of two >>> clauses, the first being ellipted. >>> >>> Herb >>> >>> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D. >>> Emeritus Professor of English >>> Ball State University >>> Muncie, IN 47306 >>> [log in to unmask] >>> ________________________________________ >>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar >>> [[log in to unmask] >>> ] On Behalf Of Edgar Schuster [[log in to unmask]] >>> Sent: May 14, 2009 2:22 PM >>> To: [log in to unmask] >>> Subject: Re: Equivalent expressions >>> >>> Ah, I suppose Arnold and I are talking about two different things. >>> Let me give an example from Oates of what I am talking about, an >>> example that has many interesting features---fragments especially--- >>> besides the initial "for," which starts not only a sentence but >>> also a >>> new paragraph. >>> >>> The "Weidel house," it would be called for years. The Weidel >>> property." As if the very land---which the family had not owned in >>> any case, but only rented, partly with county-welfare support---were >>> somehow imprinted with that name, a man's identity. Or infamy. >>> For tales were told of the father who drank, beat and terrorized >>> his >>> family . . . . >>> >>> Ed >>> >>> On May 14, 2009, at 2:02 PM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote: >>> >>>> Ed, >>>> >>>> I assume you mean the coordinate clause introduced by "for" comes >>>> before the clause that it's coordinate with. I don't have a copy >>>> of >>>> Oates and Atwan. You might send these examples to Arnold. He would >>>> find them interesting. >>>> >>>> Herb >>>> >>>> -----Original Message----- >>>> From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar >>>> [mailto:[log in to unmask] >>>> ] On Behalf Of Edgar Schuster >>>> Sent: 2009-05-14 12:42 >>>> To: [log in to unmask] >>>> Subject: Re: Equivalent expressions >>>> >>>> Herb, >>>> I read the Zwicky article, and thanks for it, but I am puzzled by >>>> his >>>> stance that "for" cannot be used sentence initially. (I hope I >>>> haven't misunderstood what he is saying.) Joyce Carol Oates uses >>>> "for" initially six times in her 1995 essay, "They All Just Went >>>> Away." Susan Sontag uses the same word initially five times in her >>>> "Notes on 'Camp'." >>>> And this is not a new phenomenon. In "The Handicapped" (1911) >>>> "for" >>>> is used by Randolph Bourne in sentence initial position 16 times, I >>>> believe. It's also used, though much more rarely, by several other >>>> writers. >>>> (All these essays may be found in "The Best American Essays of the >>>> Century" by Oates and Atwan.) >>>> >>>> Ed S >>>> >>>> On May 14, 2009, at 11:58 AM, STAHLKE, HERBERT F wrote: >>>> >>>>> English has a lot of equivalent expressions that attract the >>>>> attention of writing teachers and grammarians. Consider because/ >>>>> for, however/but, which/that, much/a lot, and others you can >>>>> probably come up with yourself. Here's a link >>>>> (http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/forbecause/ >>>>> ) to an extraordinarily lucid and insightful posting on the >>>>> topic by >>>>> that extraordinarily lucid and insightful grammarian Arnold >>>>> Zwicky. >>>>> Follow the internal links, and you'll see a subtle, perceptive, >>>>> and >>>>> witty mind at work. >>>>> >>>>> Enjoy! >>>>> >>>>> Herbert F. W. Stahlke, Ph.D. >>>>> Emeritus Professor of English >>>>> Ball State University >>>>> Muncie, IN 47306 >>>>> [log in to unmask] >>>>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >>>>> interface at: >>>>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >>>>> and select "Join or leave the list" >>>>> >>>>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >>>> >>>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >>>> interface at: >>>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >>>> and select "Join or leave the list" >>>> >>>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >>>> >>>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >>>> interface at: >>>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >>>> and select "Join or leave the list" >>>> >>>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >>> >>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >>> interface at: >>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >>> and select "Join or leave the list" >>> >>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >>> >>> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >>> interface at: >>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >>> and select "Join or leave the list" >>> >>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >> >> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >> interface >> at: >> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >> and select "Join or leave the list" >> >> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >> > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web > interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/