Is there any rule you think is valid that discourages the use of a certain word to start a sentence? Because I suspect the answer is no. But it would be good to have a blanket answer to this kind of question. Answer Well, with certain words it’s simply impossible to start a grammatical sentence: … Read more
Spending an hour in the beauty salon, Melissa got a facial with a steam mist. Are there cases where starting with a participial phrase is not correct? Answer I think it’s right as long as it’s referring to the subject in the second part of the sentence. Else, it could be the case of a … Read more
For example, is it acceptable to say “Anyways, I love Stack Exchange” or should “anyway” always be used? Answer From Paul Brians’ book named “Common Errors in English Usage“: “Anyways” at the beginning of a sentence usually indicates that the speaker has resumed a narrative thread: “Anyways, I told Matilda that guy was a lazy … Read more
In my grade school days, I recall a teacher proclaiming to the class: You should never start a sentence with the word “Because”. Of course, I’ve since seen lots of examples to the contrary, and done so my self that seem to be perfectly correct, grammatically. Did she shorten some other rule that allows for … Read more
Because of a certain 140 character limit I’ve learned where I can trim characters on responses but even after all this time I still reply with “Well, so and so . . .” and I go back and have to delete it (even on comments to this site I start with well and then delete … Read more
I know it’s wrong, but I do it all the time or else my sentences would go on forever. Answer What makes you think this is an error? All the greatest writers of English have started sentences with and. Mark Liberman, linguistics professor at the University of Pennsylvania wrote about this mythical “rule” in Language … Read more
