Can "but" begin a sentence?

Question

I've read many professional articles and books that have at least one sentence with "but" beginning it. Is this correct? Are there any instances were "but" can correctly begin a sentence?

Answer 1

This is an example of a more general "rule" that you cannot start a sentence with a conjunction. In particular, it is said that you should not begin a sentence with "and" or "but".

Yet you do see it a great deal. Why? Because there is NOTHING wrong with it! It is not ungrammatical, and it need not be poor style.

So why have grade school teachers told us for so long to avoid using "but" or "and" at the beginning of sentences? It may be they did not know any better. Or perhaps they were trying to encourage us to VARY our sentence structure and to avoid the common mistake of misusing or OVERusing such words.

At any rate MANY guides to usage approve of it, and have for some time. For example:

"There is a persistent belief that it is improper to begin a sentence with And, but this prohibition has been cheerfully ignored by standard authors from Anglo-Saxon times onwards. An initial And is a useful aid to writers as the narrative continues."
-from The New Fowler's Modern English Usage
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/conjunctions.htm

'“In his youth Dostoevsky had been attracted to utopian socialism of the Fourierist variety. But four years in a prison camp in Siberia shook his faith.” As this quotation from J.M. Coetzee shows, the conjunction but can be highly effective as a sentence opener. You may still hear the injunction against beginning a sentence with a conjunction. The idea is that these sentences express “incomplete” thoughts. But a glance through any magazine or newspaper will show you that beginning with but has become common practice, and initial but must be considered acceptable at all levels of style.'
-The American Heritage® Book of English Usage.
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English.
http://bartelby.org/64/C001/017.html

"Contrary to what your high school English teacher told you, there's no reason not to begin a sentence with but or and; in fact, these words often make a sentence more forceful and graceful. They are almost always better than beginning with however or additionally. Beginning with but or and does make your writing less formal; — but worse things could happen to most writing than becoming less formal."
-Lynch Guide to Grammar and Style
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/b.html

Answer 2

Begin Sentence With But

Answer 3

Of course it can. "But for that last drink, he could have been saved." What are you afraid of? Or, for those grammar-sticklers who say you can't end a sentence with a preposition, would "Of what are you afraid?" really make more sense? Just ask youself in proofreading if that 'But' is really necessary in the sentence you've written, that's all. Some might say my example misses the point. But I don't think so.

The best idea is just to make what you want to say get across, especially in English which is really a language made of rubber -- as opposed to, say, French -- where orthographic rules so are absolutely rigid. Over there, they even have a big public contest about "Orthographie" every year that's on live national television, and an official body of tweedy folks called "l'Institut" that makes sure the rules are kept in just-so order.

Don't fall into the trap of sloppy text-slang and punctuation, though. That's as bad as naming your child "Caitlin" or "Shawanda". Pretentious and silly at the same time, which is never a good combination.

Answer 4

I took an alternate route because I'm short on time. But I did write every word with those first letters. Enjoy! ================================ Mitzi's Eggnog Ran Randomly. "You're Clumsy", Harold Ranted. In Stern Turmoil, Mitzi Answered, "Shutup, Moron! You Did A Rude Lament. I'm Not Glad." (And this is why I don't give eggnog to Mitzi or Harold anymore). xxxo, Alec the Dalek

Answer 5

The theory is that sentences can't start with "but" because it would then be a sentence fragment, an incomplete thought. For example, "But for her gray hair." The "but" is contradicting something, but we don't know what; it's a sentence fragment. There are ways to start with "but" with perfect correctness, such as "But for her gray hair, she could still pass for thirty." You could just as easily reverse it to "She could still pass for thirty, but for her gray hair." It's a complete thought now.

Also, there is an increasing tendency these days toward relaxing the rules of the English language, to say things where they make sense even if they're not grammatically perfect. For instance, the growing acceptance of "they" meaning a single person whose sex is unknown, when technically it should be "he or she"-- but that's cumbersome and annoying, so more and more people are considering "they" the better choice. Same with starting sentences with "but"--sometimes it's so much more trouble and confusion to the reader to avoid it that even very formal writers might leave it be, even though it's technically incorrect.

Answer 6

Yes it can be. As you said, many books have but, in the beginning of a sentence.

Answer 7

In proper English writing, but is not used to start a sentence.

But many journalists and writers use their own style and will start sentences with "but."

See...I just did.

Answer 8

The word but should never be the start of a sentence.

Answer 9

The general answer is no
but it can be acceptable in certain case. Most likely you can use a comma or a semicolon instead.

Answer 10

You should only use but as the first word in an exclamatory sentence such as the one below.(used as an intensifier to introduce an exclamatory expression): But she's beautiful!