The HBR Guides Collection (8 Books) (HBR Guide Series)

143

Appendix B

A Dozen

Grammatical Rules

You Absolutely

Need to Know

1. It is perfectly acceptable to start a sentence with

And or But.

The single most important element in fl uid

writing is the use of effective transitions

between sentences and paragraphs. And no

transition is more effective than the plain

single-syllable words and and but.

The notion that it’s ungrammatical to start

a sentence with a conjunction has long been

ignored by the best writers and debunked by

reputable grammarians. Look at the op-ed

page of any major newspaper or scan through

some pages of any well-edited magazine and

you’ll see plenty of examples. Why? Because

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Appendix B

144

conjunctions are excellent transition ...