How many times have you searched for, or read, an article with a title similar to the one above? Probably quite a few, as the rules of grammar seem to be a subject of some debate these days. The most obvious answer to this question is, "Yes, of course you can begin a sentence with a conjunction." No one is stopping you, and the grammar police are not an actual organization.
However, what you really want to know is whether or not it can be grammatically correct to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction, right? Should you begin a sentence this way, as opposed to can you, is a better question. The answer to this question is yes, it can be grammatically correct to do so, and an increasing number of writers are using this variation. The MLA's (Modern Language Association) online style center gives this explanation:
Does OK mean grammatical or stylistically acceptable? This statement from an Oxford Dictionaries blog addresses the question:
[T]his is a stylistic preference rather than a grammatical, "rule." If your teachers or your organization are inflexible about this issue, then you should respect their opinion, but ultimately, it's just a point of view and you're not being ungrammatical.
MLA is a pretty authoritative source for style and grammar, and their agreement with Oxford Dictionaries makes it an even stronger statement, so you can take that quote to the bank.
Style versus grammar
What do MLA and Oxford Dictionaries mean by a stylistic rule? How does this differ from rules of grammar? Try to think of grammar, and grammar rules, as a useful set of guidelines, which will help you to be successful in your efforts to write or speak. Whereas style is a way of writing that is unique to each writer, it's essentially a personal preference. As personal preferences have no bearing on whether or not a work is grammatical, you are technically good to go. Knowing that, why would you want to begin a sentence with a coordinating conjunction? Does it offer you any benefit in your writing?
Why would you want to begin a sentence this way?
Simply put, being able to use more words in more ways gives a writer additional options, and more tools in their arsenal of creative composition. If you don't think that more words at your disposal sounds particularly useful to you, just consider how often you grab your thesaurus when writing, or are tempted to use a non-English word when it sounds better in the piece that you are writing (for those polyglots among us). Let's face it, writers are constantly on the hunt for the perfect word or phrase to express not only the meaning, but the emotion and mood that is pertinent to a situation. One of the best reasons to use a coordinating conjunction at the beginning of a sentence is to clarify the feeling of the sentence.
In her podcast, "Can I Start a Sentence with a Conjunction?" Mignon Fogarty quotes Neal Whitman in this example:
It's true that you can easily fall into a habit of beginning sentences with coordinating conjunctions. Still, being able to do so occasionally allows you more flexibility and control over the tone of your writing, and allows more variety. For example, listen to the following two sentences:
Squiggly turned in his application on time. But he forgot to include his application fee.
By making the clause about turning in the application a single sentence, and beginning the next sentence with but, we have the combination of a sentence-final pause and a sudden afterthought delivered in a short burst.
The example goes on to underscore the sense of surprise that the sentence carries when the second sentence begins with, "but." Effectively communicating the sensation of surprise may be important to this writer, and using the coordinating conjunction, "but," to begin the sentence is now another way that he or she can convey that feeling to the audience.
Coordinating conjunctions as emotive tools
The ability to successfully elicit a specific emotion in a reader or listener is an extremely useful tool in writing, and will help to give your work depth, memorability, and impact. In his piece, "Emotion vs. Feeling: How to Evoke More From Readers," David Corbett explains the importance of conveying emotion in writing:
Both emotion and feeling are essential not only in fiction but in nonfiction. However, given their unique qualities, rendering them on the page requires different techniques.
Both rely upon understanding what readers want. People don't turn to stories to experience what you, the writer, have experienced—or even what your characters have. They read to have their own experience. Our job is to create a series of effects to facilitate and enhance that experience.
In the quoted passage above, Corbett touches upon what may be considered the Holy Grail of writing; creating an emotionally satisfying experience for the reader/listener. Communication is the first goal of language, and certainly clear communication should be your most basic gauge of having written something worthwhile. That said, communicating involves more than just facts and figures; even in technical, non-fiction settings. Consider this phrase, which I recently wrote to describe the analysis of technical data obtained through scientific experimentation:
Unlike the data obtained through mass spectrometry (mass spec) analysis, the data obtained via the scanning electron microscope (SEM) provided detailed- and surprising- information about how the fibers had adhered to the substrate in the sample.
Now, this example does not begin with a coordinating conjunction, but hopefully it shows you how even a, "dry, technical subject," can be an emotionally engaging one if we, as writers, help it to be. This sentence communicates anticipation and surprise, which are two of the emotions that can be elicited when beginning a sentence with a coordinating conjunction. I could have written the passage like this, in two parts, with a coordinating conjunction beginning the second sentence, and achieved similar results:
The data obtained through mass spectrometry analysis clearly showed evidence of four distinct elements present in the sample. But the data obtained from the scanning electron microscope showed how the elements in the fibers had adhered to the substrate sample.
By using the word, "but," to begin the second sentence, I am effectively conveying the surprise of the first sample, without having to actually insert the word, "surprise," into the sentence. In this way, the coordinating conjunction is both a way to join the two statements, and a way to convey the sense of discovery that the second set of data evoked; it was unexpected. Two goals achieved by using one literary tool is pretty useful in my book.
Here is a good example of poetic style being carried by means of coordinating conjunction, in the last stanza of Robert Frost's poem, "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening:"
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Notice that three out of four phrases in this stanza begin with a coordinating conjunction? While these phrases are not true sentences (notice the commas between them), they are semi-complete thoughts, which serve to convey both the feelings and experiences of the author. Without these conjunctions, Frost's final stanza might well lose that drifting, lulling quality for which it is so well known. Poetry often has a bit more stylistic license than other types of writing, but the sentiments that one feels reading this piece are partly due to Frost's use of coordinating conjunctions as origination words in this stanza, and that is a lesson that can be applied to any form of writing.
Words of caution
Now that you know how and why you could use a coordinating conjunction to begin a sentence, a few words of caution before you dive into the, "buts," "ands," and, "ors:"
- Coordinating Conjunctions can be over-used.
- Coordinating Conjunctions should connect clauses/structures of equal weight.
- Longer, more complex sentences are generally perceived as more sophisticated writing.
The three cautions above are not meant to dissuade you, but rather to serve as a guide to those who are just dipping their toe into traditionally taboo uses of coordinating conjunctions. As long as you adhere to grammatical rules regarding ambiguity, and avoid the fairly elementary mistake of run-on sentences, you should be able to safely work with coordinating conjunctions in a broader fashion; including to originate sentences.