My HS English comp teacher told us to never use "there" to begin a sentence. Agree or disagree?

Question

We rewrote every sentence that began with "there" and the results were amazing! Sentences were richer and more interesting>

Answer 1

A sentence should not begin with, nor use there are or there is. The sentence will gain much strength with the omission of these phrases. My college English professor strongly dislikes the use of these phrases; therefore, I suggest getting used to not using them.

Answer 2

Speaking as a college professor who has taught business writing as one of my classes, I can honestly say that there's nothing wrong with beginning a sentence with "there" provided it's gramatically correct.

Now some teachers have their opinions regarding style, which is what makes English tough. Grammar rules are written in stone, but style issues are often judgement calls.

Whether to begin a sentence with "Because of" or "Due to" is a personal choice, because they both essentially mean the same thing. And both would be gramatically correct. So I personally disagree with your teacher's contention that you should NEVER use it.

In some cases, it might be better or clearer to use something else, but again, you're getting into the style and judgement call area. There are many differences of opinion and ways of doing things, which is what make English a difficult language to learn and master.

Answer 3

Agree---combining the sentences do make them richer, but using "there" to begin a sentence is not incorrect but possibly overused.

Answer 4

There is no grammar law forbidding beginning a sentence with the word There.

Answer 5

As a general rule, I would agree with you. However, once you become more adept at composing sentences, you will find there are very few hard and fast rules that can never be broken.

Answer 6

agree.
i had a teacher that had that rule plus several others...and when i write a college paper i look at mine compared to tohers and the sentences are much better sounding.
i really wish i could remember ALL of the rules b/c they were great. now they have pretty much jsut become habit..
i have found that a lot of people tend to write how they talk and it's turned into a bloody mess.
"well it's over there and he remembers it all" does not really sound great. you need to know what is over where and who remembers all of what..and basically, all of his rules taught us to do that.

Answer 7

There are many uses to beginning a sentence with the word there. There are also many instances it sounds unprofessional. You choose.

Answer 8

Neither. I've not heard of this rule. I'll try it out sometime.

Answer 9

There is something wrong here. Disagree!