Stating a sentence with 'And' in a YA novel.

Amberly

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Hi guys

What is the general opinion about starting a sentence with 'And'? (in a YA novel)

This is my offending sentence:

This is what I have to look forward to, another week of being pushed and shoved and having to control myself. And plenty more time to display my useless social skills.

Any help I can get on making the grammar/flow better in this one will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Cas
 

thothguard51

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Stating a sentence with 'And' in a YA novel.

Here, I fixed it for you...Starting a sentence with 'And," in a YA novel.

Since the paragraph in question is internal dialogue, if this is how the character thinks and speaks, then starting the sentence with And would be acceptable. Me, I would rework the whole thing though because of all the ANDS in the previous sentence. Maybe something like this...

So this is what I have to look forward to; another week of being pushed, shoved, and controlling myself beyond all human tolerance? A great time to display my useless social skills.

Or something like that...
 

Niiicola

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Stating a sentence with 'And' in a YA novel.

Here, I fixed it for you...Starting a sentence with 'And," in a YA novel.

Since the paragraph in question is internal dialogue, if this is how the character thinks and speaks, then starting the sentence with And would be acceptable. Me, I would rework the whole thing though because of all the ANDS in the previous sentence. Maybe something like this...

So this is what I have to look forward to; another week of being pushed, shoved, and controlling myself beyond all human tolerance? A great time to display my useless social skills.

Or something like that...

That works, but the semicolon should be a colon ;)
 

Captcha

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Here, I fixed it for you...Starting a sentence with 'And," in a YA novel.
Shall I fix it for you, by making your quotation marks match? You know you're always going to make a typo when being snarky about someone else's typos, don't you?

In terms of the original question - I don't think there's anything wrong with starting a sentence with "And" in YA or elsewhere, except that it tends to produce sentence fragments, which is what you've got in the OP. Now, I don't think there's anything wrong with sentence fragments in YA or most other fiction, so I don't have a problem with that. But if you're worried about correct grammar, you might want to look at it.
 

Mclesh

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I don't have a problem with starting sentences with "And" either. Basically what Captcha said. I'll occasionally have a sentence fragment, if that's what fits. As long as you know it's a fragment, that's the important thing.
 

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There is nothing, absolutely nothing, in English grammar that prohibits starting a sentence with "and." Writers have been happily initiating sentences with "and" for at least 1000 years.

That's more nineteenth-century amateur grammarian bullshit.

That said, starting a sentence with "and" is informal, colloquial, and largely associated with casual speech. Like, you know, the sorts of speech teenagers might use.
 

Sarah Madara

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Yes, you can start a sentence with "and".

What I really want to know is whether that period should have been before or after the quotation marks in the U.S.

But I will put aside this question to join the snark:

Stating a sentence with 'And' in a YA novel.

Here, I fixed it for you...Starting a sentence with 'And," in a YA novel.

Shall I fix it for you, by making your quotation marks match? You know you're always going to make a typo when being snarky about someone else's typos, don't you?

If we're going to sweat the post title, let's take out the comma after "And". Or maybe after "And."

And I'm done.
 

Captcha

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In US English, the period would inexplicably be inside the quotation mark. Well, I'm sure Medievalist has an explanation for that, but I prefer to consider it a complete mystery.

In 'British' English, or Commonwealth English in general, it would be outside the quotation marks, since the period didn't appear in the quoted material. Which makes a hell of a lot more sense, at least to this Commonwealth resident.
 

Sarah Madara

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Thanks, Captcha.

As to possibly rephrasing the line in question, Thothguard had a good suggestion. You could also simply cut the "and" if it feels like too many:

This is what I have to look forward to, another week of being pushed and shoved and having to control myself. And pPlenty more time to display my useless social skills.

Again, starting a sentence with "and" is fine. But since you seem to feel it isn't working, play around with it and see if something else sounds better. Don't sweat the grammar as much as the flow.
 

Terie

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I know the question's been answered, but I just gotta add: There's a scene in the film Finding Forrester about starting sentences with 'but' and 'and'. A whole freaking scene! Go, forthwith, and watch. And enjoy. And be edified. :D
 

Mark G

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I see sentences starting with conjunctions all the time in modern chick-lit. It threw me the first few times, but it's more fun to read in a lot of ways.

And I'm a grammar snob!
 

lwallace

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That works, but the semicolon should be a colon ;)

Niiicola is exactly right. This is a perfect spot for a colon, one of the colon rules being the punctuation to be used immediately following the announcement of an amplification or elaboration of what went before the colon.

 

lwallace

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Beginning Sentences with And or But

Hi guys

What is the general opinion about starting a sentence with 'And'? (in a YA novel)

This is my offending sentence:

This is what I have to look forward to, another week of being pushed and shoved and having to control myself. And plenty more time to display my useless social skills.

Any help I can get on making the grammar/flow better in this one will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Cas

The strict grammarians (of which I am not one) say never begin a sentence with "And" or "But." Many good writers have broken that rule. Another solution virtually always exists for any sentence that begins with "And" or "But."

When the previous sentence has a series of tumbling clauses, with one or more coordinating conjunctions ("and" or "but," typically), then, yes, the writer might want to start a new sentence, perhaps with "And" or "But," either of which might be expendable, as is often the case.

It is possible to start a sentence with "And" or "But." I wouldn't make a habit of it. Carl Sagan, in his famous book
Cosmos began many many sentences with "But" and a few with "And." I think he was justified because he had some long complicated sentences that came before. Could all those sentences have been restructured to satisfy the excessively sniffy grammarians? Probably. Partly, though, Carl Sagan's style was at work.


Beginning a sentence with "And" or "But" is one of those rules about which the grammarians are not in complete agreement although the majority fall on the side of not beginning sentences so

Regards,

L. Wallace
 

tmesis

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The strict grammarians (of which I am not one) say never begin a sentence with "And" or "But."

I think 'prescriptivist' is a more accurate term than 'grammarian' here. 'Grammarian' can just mean someone who studies or studied grammar. Only a fraction of grammarians are prescriptivists, and only a fraction of prescriptivists have studied grammar.

(By 'studied', I mean in depth, i.e. to at least degree level.)
 

lwallace

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You May Be Right

I think 'prescriptivist' is a more accurate term than 'grammarian' here. 'Grammarian' can just mean someone who studies or studied grammar. Only a fraction of grammarians are prescriptivists, and only a fraction of prescriptivists have studied grammar.

(By 'studied', I mean in depth, i.e. to at least degree level.)

Sure, but even most grammarians don't know the word "prescriptivist," at least in the U.S. (We Yanks are a simple folk.) LOL You made your point, but what was the point of this thread again?
 

F.E.

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I think 'prescriptivist' is a more accurate term than 'grammarian' here. 'Grammarian' can just mean someone who studies or studied grammar. Only a fraction of grammarians are prescriptivists, and only a fraction of prescriptivists have studied grammar.

(By 'studied', I mean in depth, i.e. to at least degree level.)
Prescriptivist, stickler, or Pop Grammarian. :)
 

lwallace

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Yes, you can start a sentence with "and".

What I really want to know is whether that period should have been before or after the quotation marks in the U.S.

I know it seems ridiculous, but the rule is to put the end quotation mark after the period, at least in the U.S. There is no satisfactory logical explanation for that rule. In fact, reason and logic would lead most of us to put the period after the end quotation mark. The rule is based on convention. I've been told that the British would put the period after the quotation mark in this and other such instances, but, for now at least, the U.S. uses the somewhat anal retentive rule of period inside the end-quote. It's a rule that I wish we would change. I don't take the time to mark this in student essay, so maybe I'm contributing to a gradual relaxation of the rule.
 

lwallace

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Sarah Madara, freeway stomper extraordinaire:
"I've been sneaking top-secret posts onto a group writers' blog. Shhhhhh."

I won't repeat the above to a soul. I won't even peek. Mum's the word.
 

Fallen

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Sure, but even most grammarians don't know the word "prescriptivist,".

It's showing synchronic change to lexis (only doctor's prescribe), as prescriptivivsts don't allow for change and diversity, why would they? :tongue

Besides, most style guides prescribe in one form another.
 

tmesis

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Besides, most style guides prescribe in one form another.

True. Fair point. :)

You made your point, but what was the point of this thread again?

I guess what I meant to query was the thing about the majority of grammarians prescribing against starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'. They don't. Not the majority. Some might, but of the set of people who've studied grammar, they're very much in the minority. Part of the reason being that it has no grammatical basis.

Edit: to clarify, I mean specifically in fiction, or other informal prose. I'm not sure how accepted the usage is in academic writing.
 

lwallace

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Academic vs. Fiction

True. Fair point. :)

I guess what I meant to query was the thing about the majority of grammarians prescribing against starting sentences with 'and' or 'but'. They don't. Not the majority. Some might, but of the set of people who've studied grammar, they're very much in the minority. Part of the reason being that it has no grammatical basis.

Edit: to clarify, I mean specifically in fiction, or other informal prose. I'm not sure how accepted the usage is in academic writing.

Yes, that's important. In academic writing, it is much more an issue and prohibition--although not for me personally. I don't thing it's anything approaching a prohibition in fiction writing. We are in agreement there.
 

lwallace

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Even More Categories Than That

Prescriptivist, stickler, or Pop Grammarian. :)

Prescriptivist, stickler, pop grammarian, stormtrooper grammarian, or even embittered hairsplitter.
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Are there other nuances or motivations that we've missed?