Why you should stop starting sentences with ‘and’ or ‘but’

The casual construction might be widely employed, but that doesn’t mean you should use it in business writing. Here’s why communicators should consider going a different way.

Ragan Insider Premium Content
Ragan Insider Content

Our esteemed colleague Russell Working recently opined about the editors’ firm opinion here at PR Daily and Ragan.com that sentences should rarely start with an “and” or a “but.”

Working, a fine writer and devilish intra-office email purveyor, wished that our editorial staff would ease up. After all, isn’t the insistence that no sentence should start with a conjunction a relic of our elementary school days?

Working isn’t alone; many grammar authorities side with him.

Mignon Fogarty, known to writers and other language enthusiasts as Grammar Girl, says the rule is something of a misconception.

She writes:

To read the full story, log in.
Become a Ragan Insider member to read this article and all other archived content.
Sign up today

Already a member? Log in here.
Learn more about Ragan Insider.