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Is it correct to use "But" at the start of a sentence like this?

You can afford it. But think twice before buying it.

Won't using "But" instead of "However" mark me as a non-native speaker?

herisson
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antiplayer
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  • It's worth considering that "But.." in a dialog works somewhat differently than it does a monologue, essay, or other single-voice situation. – RBarryYoung Nov 23 '13 at 16:07

5 Answers5

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If anything it would mark you as a native speaker, because native and non-native speakers alike are taught not to do it, but native speakers grow up hearing everyone else doing so, and ignore those teachers.

It's quite likely that the condemnation of starting with a conjunction is because some children have a habit of overusing such beginnings:

And then I went to the park. And my friend Paul was there. But he had to go home for his tea. And then I was lonely so I went for a walk. And then I found a toy someone had left behind.

Such overuse is certainly not good, and banning children from ever starting a sentence with a conjunction is easier than telling them to be moderate with it, absolute prohibitions being easier to judge after all. (Though if as an adult writer you find that you are starting a very large number of sentences with conjunctions, then banning yourself from doing so might be a good exercise!)

Of course, as adult writers we should be better able to judge what is wrong with the example I gave than just proscribing all such use.

Interestingly, while you speak of however as another possibility, it is starting a sentence with however that is the more controversial. One common style-guide only changed to permit it in the last few years (alas I forget which) and many still recommend but over however in those cases where one could reasonably use either. (There was an editor of the New Yorker who was forever changing initial but into however, but he was an exception, and even he changed his ways).

Now, I'll disagree with those people and say that however is just as good as but at the start of a sentence too, but it's worth noting that the opinion does exist.

(It's also worth noting, that if you start with a conjunctive however you must followed by a comma while but would not. Other senses of however have different requirements regarding commas, see https://english.stackexchange.com/a/104877/15770 for more).

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Jon Hanna
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    But then you’re not really using ‘however’ as a conjunction in those cases, but as a conjunctive adverb. Its semantic function is conjunctive, but its syntactic properties are still adverbial, and like all sentence adverbs, it should be set off by commas. :-) – Janus Bahs Jacquet Nov 22 '13 at 16:16
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    +1 - That's the first time I've heard a motivation for teachers banning the convention. – Ste Nov 22 '13 at 16:17
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    @JanusBahsJacquet as if I don't tend toward verbosity over brevity at the best of times, you want me to add more! :) I do go into more detail on precisely that in the answer on that matter that I linked to. – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 16:22
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    @Ste It's hard to know if it is really the truth of the matter, but I've heard it suggested a few times, starting with when I protested the ban by a teacher as a child myself, and she agreed that it was valid but said she wants to avoid such over-use. (And thankfully, that I could indeed ignore the ban if I refrained from such overuse myself). – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 16:24
  • @JonHanna I will insist that my son tests his English teacher next week and, when she fails, I will have him ask her why she is so against it! – Ste Nov 22 '13 at 16:29
  • @Ste I wonder if my kids' teachers have considered using the same tactic, in arguing that when given fiction exercises writing romantic fan-fic is in fact grammatically incorrect. – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 16:45
  • Great analysis. However me no howevers. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 22 '13 at 16:53
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    Had a comment, upon review, found it to be non sequitur. – EtherDragon Nov 22 '13 at 19:54
  • @JonHanna I think that the style guide you're thinking of is the Chicago manual; sentence adverbs generaly are controversial though (God forbid one use hopefully as a sentence adverb). You're absolutely right that, strictly speaking, it's preferable to begin a sentence with but rather than however; however, there's little difference between that and following a semi-colon with however as I've just done. Oh and, The New Yorker is the worst in terms of grammatical guidance; you're talking about an American publication that refuses to use the word gotten and insists on diaereses. – Giambattista Nov 22 '13 at 21:05
  • @JohnQPublic I wouldn't agree with your strictly having no such issue with however beyond decisions of euphony in a given case. I also won't hear a bad thing said about diaereses. That said though, the New Yorker is more than a little idiosyncratic on such things, and was even more so at the time in question. – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 21:16
  • @JonHanna that wasn't a negative remark about diaereses; I ran out of characters. The point was that almost no one, other than The New Yorker uses them and that their style is very conservative. And as for strictly--which was intended to be prescriptively (again, ran out of characters)--you yourself made the statement. I'm almost certain that the manual in question was Chicago, which would make sense as it is the most conservative (and the one I never use). But that was one of the old hard-and-fast rules of English grammar at one point; but I could say the same beginning a sentence with but. – Giambattista Nov 22 '13 at 21:25
  • @JohnQPublic I was half-sure it was APA, but not sure enough. – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 22:02
  • @JonHanna it could be APA, but I don't think it was since I used to use it regularly. Although I could see it since that's mainly for academic writing. Anyway, after searching, the reference I was talking about is Strunk and White's Elements of Style. And I doubt that it's been changed in that book since it hasn't been published in over 50 years. Here's Chicago's take on however for those interested. If they say it's OK, then it definitely is for most purposes. They do mention that it was once non-standard. – Giambattista Nov 22 '13 at 22:16
  • @JohnQPublic yes, Strunk suggested replacing any however that could be a but with but. Not that I'd take Strunk as a guide on anything - if Strunk was so good on the topic of writing, why did he need White to turn it into something readable? ;) – Jon Hanna Nov 22 '13 at 22:28
  • I don't think that English-speaking children begin a conversation with "And I did this ...". You will find that they correctly use "and" to append new information to earlier material. – Kaz Nov 23 '13 at 02:48
  • I too was taught never to start a sentence with either "However" or "But". As a native speaker, I ignore that of course. But I try not to do it when writing. Oops... – RBarryYoung Nov 23 '13 at 16:10
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    @Kaz, in a conversation no, but when given writing exercises some do. It's a matter of immature composition skills, rather than immature language skills. – Jon Hanna Nov 23 '13 at 16:32
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But at the beginning of a sentence is fine, and in most contexts is more natural in spoken English than though (which is a different word from thought, by the way) or however.

There used to be some teachers who had a mad idea that there was something wrong with this, but they've mostly gone now.

Colin Fine
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Yes, it is common and acceptable to start sentences with conjunctions such as "but". In fact, there is an argument that it is a better writing style than other constructions.

Interesting reading on the matter.

Ste
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I would argue that "but", when it applies to a clause, cannot be anywhere else than at the start of a clause. It serves as a "clause-initial particle" or something like that.

The real rule isn't that "but" cannot be at the start of a sentence. Rather, a sentence starting with "but" should be avoided if you're starting a brand new discussion context, in which there is nothing prior that "but" can refer to. So the following makes no sense as the first sentence of a paper:

But this document summarizes the results of research into the mating habits of Madagascar rats. *

In writing, you probably want to avoid start a new section, paragraph or chapter with "but", let alone a book or paper.

The "do not start with but" rule is also intended to prevent writing like this:

I looked in the fridge. But the sandwich wasn't there.

which should be written:

I looked in the fridge, but the sandwich wasn't there.

There is no spoken difference here. Children will write it the first way, if nobody tells them otherwise.

Kaz
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I think, and I am probably wrong, that each sentence written should be able to stand alone, that's why it is a sentence. I can think of no situation where "but", "however" or "also" can stand alone. But I like the rain. However it's dark at night. Also I love music. To me these "sentences" are actually fragments of an idea. I am not an english major, but I would discourage the use of these words at the beginning of a sentence. If I were to read a resume, cover letter, or any other document that was submitted to me for review, I would absolutely toss it. I struggle with the fact that "captain underpants" is required reading in fourth grade, however, anything written by Hemmingway is not. It is truly sad to me as a parent that my child is learning that these things are now acceptable and proper.

Deb Mo
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    If you really believe that a sentence should be able to stand alone, why did you write "To me these "sentences" are actually fragments of an idea"? That cannot stand alone; the reader needs to know what 'these sentences' are. Similarly, your final sentence cannot stand alone - what are 'these things'? If you find your sentences, fully comprehensible only with an earlier sentence to refer to, acceptable, then you should be able to allow 'but' to refer back to something in a previous sentence. – tunny Nov 13 '14 at 21:41