We really like sentences that start with the conjunctions “and”, “but” and “or”. But we don’t like the way most writers do it. Every time he writes a sentence that starts with these words, he creates a sentence fragment, which is against the rules. However, breaking this rule for the right reason can make your writing more powerful. (Breaking the rules by accident often results in poor writing.) Actually, you can create fragments with conjunctions in several ways. Let’s first look at the rules for using conjunctions, and then consider when it might be useful to break them.

Rule One: Coordinating Conjunctions

Those three words are coordinating conjunctions, along with “for”, “nor”, “still” and “so”. The term “conjunction” means “to unite.” This means that you have one part of your prize tied to another part. with one of these words.
First part + Conjunction + Second part.
To follow the rules, you must have a Part One and a Part Two. If you omit either part, you will have a sentence fragment. These are some examples of this rule applied correctly.

“John loved Sally and Sally loved Tom.” The conjunction joins two independent clauses (complete sentences, notice the comma).

“Tom loved Mary but not Sally.” The conjunction joins the independent clause “Tom loved Mary” to the noun phrase “not Sally”.

“Mary didn’t love John or Tom.” The conjunction unites two nouns.

“Mary loved and admired Frank.” The conjunction is joining two verbs.
“Frank thought Mary was cute, but Tom was his friend, so he went after Sally.” This is like the first example.

“John got mad at Frank and walked up to him in the parking lot after work.” The conjunction is joining two verbal sentences.

What do we learn from these correct examples, besides the fact that someone is going to have a broken heart or a bloody nose? Each conjunction falls between Part One and Part Two.

Now consider this obviously incorrect sentence: “John went to the store and.” The second part is missing, so this is a sentence fragment, which means it’s only part of a sentence. Now consider this incorrect sentence: “But we don’t like the way most writers do it.” The first part is missing, so it’s also a prize snippet. Very few writers make the first kind of mistake, but many make the second (sometimes on purpose, sometimes not).

Rule Two: Subordinating Conjunctions

While rule one is fairly easy to use and the errors in rule one are very easy to correct, rule two is a bit more complicated. First, let’s define “subordinate conjunction”. A subordinating conjunction begins a sentence or clause that only has value because it says something about an independent clause (think: complete the sentence again). As an analogy, imagine you have a job. You have that job only because the company you work for exists. You are subordinate to that company. Now imagine that one day you go to work and discover that the company has closed. Suddenly, you are out of a job. In the same way, a clause or sentence that begins with a subordinate conjunction only has a job when it is attached to a complete sentence. By himself, he is unemployed. it is a fragment.

How can you identify this type of conjunction? We’re glad you asked. This type of conjunction is recognizable by what it does. They do the work of adverbs, which means that the sentences they start say something about the main verb. Subordinating conjunctions do one of four things: tell when something happened, show the cause and effect of actions, provide opposite information about an action, and set some kind of condition for the main action to occur. Here are some examples showing the correct usage.

Weather: “Ever since he kissed Mary, Frank felt guilty.” “Since” is the subordinate conjunction, it starts the subordinate clause “since he kissed Mary” and tells when Frank felt guilty.

Cause and effect: “Because Frank felt guilty, he told Tom what he had done.” “Because” is the subordinate conjunction, it begins the sentence “Because Frank felt guilty” and explains the cause of his strange action (say).

Opposition: “Even though Tom was angry, he forgave Frank.” “Although” is the subordinate conjunction and begins the subordinate phrase “Although Tom was angry”, which provides opposite information to “he forgave Frank”.

Condition: “Unless Frank kissed Mary again, Tom promised to forget everything.” “Unless” is the subordinate conjunction, it begins the subordinate phrase “Unless Frank kissed Mary again” and sets a condition for Tom to forget.

What have we learned, besides the fact that Tom is maybe too forgiving but maybe a bit possessive of a girl who doesn’t care about him? Each subordinate clause needs an independent clause (still thinking full sentence?) to have a job. By itself, the subordinate phrase, started with a subordinate conjunction, will be a sentence fragment. In each of these examples, the subordinate conjunction is at the beginning of the sentence, but the entire sentence could be moved after the main verb. For example, you could write “Frank felt guilty ever since he kissed Mary.” (Notice that the comma is gone.)

Some other examples of subordinating conjunctions are:

Weather: “when”, “as”, “after”, “before”, “until”, “while”

Cause and effect: “now that”, “because”, “since”, “so that

Opposition: “although”, “although”, “instead of”, “instead of”, “while”

Condition: “if”, “in case”, “should”, “even if”

breaking the rules

Call us rebels if you want, but we think breaking the rules is sometimes okay. If you do it carefully. When you create a sentence fragment, as we just did, you create a strong pause in the reader’s mind. You draw a lot of attention to the snippet and what the snippet says. Basically, you’re telling the reader, “Stop! Pay attention to this.”

If you do this once in a while, most readers won’t criticize you. However, if you do this frequently, it will make your writing tedious to read and you will come off as quite the amateur writer. A good editor will know when doing so is helpful and when it’s not. Our advice is this: examine your conjunctions (especially your subordinate conjunctions) carefully and make sure they are linked to complete sentences. Follow the rules first. Then, and only then, consider whether you can break the rule. Be a rebel, but be a careful rebel.