Somewhere around Mrs. Winestock’s third-grade English class, I became firmly convinced that starting a sentence with and or but would mean the end of life as I knew it. I imagined a giant red F scribbled across my paper, my promotion to fourth grade in jeopardy, and my future as a writer ruined.

Fast-forward to college years and journalism school, where I was at last liberated from my fear of the coordinating conjunction’s role in my inevitable downfall as a writer. I learned the truth, and I also became deeply curious about why I had such strong feelings about something so specific.

Come to find out, almost every adult I know who’s close to my age believes the same thing.

 What is going on?

 Do we all share some kind of early classroom grammar trauma?

 Is this the Mandela Effect rearing its ugly head again, like the Monopoly guy’s missing monocle?

Come with me, my fellow mid-lifers, and let’s work through this together.

Don’t Believe the Hype

 It is completely acceptable to start a sentence with a conjunction.

 That includes and, but, or, so, and yet.

Grammarians, linguists, writers and style guides have been saying this for decades.

Let’s go straight to the source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary says: “It is fine to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. And you can quote us on that.” They're cheeky and I love it!

Chicago Manual of Style (17th Edition, 5.206): “There is a widespread belief—one with no historical or grammatical foundation—that it is an error to begin a sentence with a conjunction… But this belief is mistaken.” Cheeky but a little fancier!

Oxford Dictionary’s Lexico site: “It’s perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with a conjunction. In fact, it can often make your writing more natural and flowing.” I think Oxford missed the note to formulate their answer starting with conjunction. I bet they regret that especially after reading the MLA and Merriam's replies. 

So Who Started This Myth?

 The “rule” likely began in schoolrooms rather than grammar text books. Teachers often discouraged starting with and or but to prevent them from being overused by emerging writers who often use them as a part of incomplete sentences. Somewhere along the way this classroom guideline got written on tablets of stone and blessed.

Then it grew into legend.

Much like “never split an infinitive” or “don’t end a sentence with a preposition,” the and/but myth gained traction because it was repeated often enough, not because it was true or necessary.  

Did you just spit out your tea?

Yes, I said it. You can, in fact, end a sentence in a preposition. Don't come for me!

"It would appear that some people are determined to hold on to this rule, no matter how many times they are informed that it really isn’t one." ~Merriam-Webster

Winston Churchill is famously credited with the most savage response to this so-called rule, reportedly writing in the margin of a document where an editor had pretentiously corrected a terminal preposition: "This is the type of errant pedantry up with which I will not put." 

He was making the point that avoiding a preposition at the end can make a sentence absurd.

Shakespeare ended sentences with prepositions constantly throughout his plays and sonnets — "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" being one of the most quoted examples.

Jane Austen used terminal prepositions throughout her novels, as did Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, and John Milton.

Heavens, even the King James Bible, one of the most influential texts in the English language, is full of them.

Back to the matter at hand.

Famous Writers Who Broke the “Conjunction Myth”

Some, honestly most all, of the most celebrated writers in the English language broke this so-called rule and did so beautifully:

• Jane Austen, in Pride and Prejudice: “But no such recollection befriended her.”
• Charles Dickens, in A Tale of Two Cities: “And yet I have had the weakness—and have still the weakness—to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me.”
• J.K. Rowling, in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: “But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend.”
• George Orwell, in 1984: “And the people under the sky were also very much the same everywhere.”
• C.S. Lewis, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: “But Edmund snatched it away and began to eat it.”

If it’s good enough for Dickens and Orwell, it’s probably okay for your next email or essay.

If you feel you really need to teach them a rule, then tell your children that starting with “and” or “but” is fine as long as the sentence is complete.

So the next time someone says, “You can’t start a sentence with a conjunction” feel free to smile politely and say:

“But I can.”