You can start a sentence with and or but. Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA and Fowler's all say the ban has no basis in grammar, and English prose has opened sentences this way since the Old English Chronicle. Our view, and it is only ours: in an essay, an occasional But that marks a real turn is fine unless your brief says otherwise; a run of sentences opening with And is weak whatever the rule.
This guide comes from the EdCitation editorial team. Every rule, date and quotation below was read at its source on 26 September 2026; where we could not read the original, we say whose account we rely on.
The practical answer for a paper is whatever your course asks for. EdCitation's free Check your paper reads your brief into a checklist, each rule shown beside the sentence it came from, so you can find the instructions before you start.
Can you start a sentence with "and" or "but"?
Yes. Every dictionary and usage guide we read allows it; university writing guides are split on whether it sounds too informal for an essay.
| Authority | What it says about and or but first | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Merriam-Webster | Perfectly acceptable, and done for over a thousand years | Merriam-Webster (2026) |
| Chicago Manual of Style, 18th ed. | No historical or grammatical foundation for the ban (5.209); use it when clearer | University of Chicago Press (n.d.) |
| MLA Style Center | Not incorrect, though some find it informal | Modern Language Association (2019) |
| Fowler's, 2nd ed. | A "faintly lingering superstition" | Fowler (1965) |
| APA Style | Nothing on its website | American Psychological Association (2024) |
| Walden University Writing Center | Avoid it in scholarly writing | Bakke (2019) |
| Coventry University | Avoid and, so or but at the start | Coventry University (2026) |
| Your course | Whatever its brief says | Found by Check your paper |
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster (2026) calls the practice perfectly acceptable and traces it from the ninth-century Old English Chronicle to today, through Bible translations and usage guides. It points out that the 1959 edition of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style opens two sentences in a row with But and And. It also concedes that there are times when opening with either word would be ill-advised.
Chicago and the MLA
Asked by editors of an academic law review whether the practice is proper in academic writing, Chicago's editors cite Bryan Garner's view in paragraph 5.209 that the ban has "no historical or grammatical foundation", and add or and nor to the list. Their condition is that the sentence should be clear and better than the alternative (University of Chicago Press, n.d.). The Modern Language Association (2019) says writing such sentences separately is not incorrect but is seen by some as informal; the post dates from the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook.
Fowler's
The 1965 edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage, revised by Sir Ernest Gowers, calls the idea that opening with and is a mistake a "faintly lingering superstition", and notes that the OED's examples run from the tenth century to the nineteenth (Fowler, 1965, p. 29). Chicago's answer cites the third edition to the same effect.
APA
We found no guidance at APA Style. Its grammar page covers verbs, pronouns and sentence construction and sends other questions to a trusted grammar reference or a university writing centre (American Psychological Association, 2024). We did not read chapter 4 of the Publication Manual, so we cannot say the manual itself is silent.
Where did the rule against starting with "and" come from?
No one knows who first taught it, but the rule is in print by the 1850s, and the best-known source is a Victorian critic who called the habit "not scholarly". What follows is what we could read, and what we could only read about.
Quackenbos, 1854
George Payn Quackenbos's Advanced Course of Composition and Rhetoric, whose preface is dated 11 September 1854, lays it down in a lesson on the full stop. We read a printing of 1857. Quackenbos (1857) admits that the Scriptures open "verse after verse" with and, calls that out of step with modern usage, and gives the rule: no sentence should begin with and, for or however, but one may begin with but, now or moreover, with "occasional exceptions" (p. 88). So one of the earliest rule-makers we found allowed But.
George Washington Moon, 1868
Grammarphobia's authors report that Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage traced the belief to George Washington Moon, and could find no other commentator who put the ban in print (O'Conner & Kellerman, 2011). Quackenbos, fourteen years earlier, shows the search missed at least one. Moon's book first appeared in 1868 as The Bad English of Lindley Murray and Other Writers on the English Language; we could not read that edition, and read the fourth, of 1871.
There, Moon (1871) is answering a letter to The Nation from a defender of the scholar George P. Marsh, whom he calls "Mr. S., of Trinity College". He remarks that it is "not scholarly to begin a sentence with the copulative conjunction 'and'" (p. 94). The very next paragraph of his own opens with "But there is an other error". Battistella (2016) says Moon was referring to Marsh; in the edition we read, the sentence he faults is Mr. S.'s.
Why schools taught it
The usual explanation is teaching, not grammar. As Grammarphobia quotes it, Merriam-Webster's usage dictionary suggests the ban was meant to stop children stringing clauses together with and, and that teachers never said when it could be dropped (O'Conner & Kellerman, 2011). Battistella (2016) quotes the linguist Arnold Zwicky making the same guess, and summarises a study by Heidrun Dorgeloh finding that sentence-initial and came to seem old-fashioned and less professional as scientific prose gained prestige; we read Battistella's summary, not the study.
One other early rule comes to us second-hand. Merriam-Webster (2026) quotes a 1916 Boston School Committee document asking teachers to eliminate but, so, and and because at the start of a sentence; we could not find the original.
What does published prose show?
It shows the rule was never followed by the texts English readers know best. Four examples, each checked at the text:
- The Bible. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." (King James Bible, 1611/2011, Genesis 1:3). The chapter opens sentence after sentence with And, as Quackenbos conceded.
- The United States Constitution. Article I, Section 7: "But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays". We counted three sentences opening with But in the National Archives (n.d.) transcript of the 1787 text; Schiess (2020) counts seven, and we did not check how.
- Jane Austen. In chapter 9 of Northanger Abbey, John Thorpe starts a sentence with But and Catherine answers with one that starts "However, I am sure James does not drink so much" (Austen, 1818/1994).
- Moon himself, as above.
Should you start a sentence with "and" or "but" in an academic essay?
You may, but check your brief first, because university writing guides disagree. Bakke (2019), for the Walden University Writing Center, says coordinating conjunctions should usually stay inside the sentence, since opening with one gives an informal tone. Coventry University (2026), in its Centre for Academic Writing guide on style and register, says to avoid and, so or but at the start of sentences. On the other side, Chicago's editors told the law review that enforcing "a baseless restriction" probably does not help academic writing either (University of Chicago Press, n.d.), and Schiess (2020), writing on legal style, cites Supreme Court opinions from 1793 to 2013 that open with But and treats the choice as one of formality and emphasis.
For an essay, this is how we would decide:
- Read the brief and the style guide it names. If either forbids it, follow it. EdCitation's free Check your paper shows the style and the other rules it can read, each with its sentence.
- Ask whether the course has a house guide. A department handbook, like Coventry's, may say more than the style guide does.
- Keep But for a real turn in the argument. Chicago's test is that the sentence must be clear and better than the alternative.
- Break up a run of And sentences. Several in a row read as a list, which is the habit the school rule was aimed at.
- Check the word you meant. Chicago also suggests trying and where you wrote but; if it fits, there was no contrast.
- Cite any usage guide you quote. Cite a source builds the entry from an ISBN or a web address.
Three sentences, rewritten (our examples)
These are ours, written for this guide:
- "The sample was small. But the effect held in every subgroup." Acceptable where the brief allows it. "However, the effect held in every subgroup" is the safer choice under a guide like Walden's.
- "Participants were interviewed. And they completed a survey. And they kept a diary." Recast: "Participants were interviewed, completed a survey and kept a diary."
- "The policy aimed to cut costs. But it also reduced waiting times." Here the second fact does not contrast with the first, so and or It also is the right word.
Can you start a sentence with "because", "however" or "so"?
Yes, all three, with one condition each. The same nineteenth-century rules that banned and banned these too: Quackenbos (1857) named however, and the Boston document Merriam-Webster quotes named because and so.
"Because"
Merriam-Webster (n.d.-a) calls beginning a sentence with because "both acceptable and widespread", though more common in magazines and newspapers than in formal prose. The condition, in our reading, is that the sentence must be complete: "Because the sample was small, the results are tentative" is a sentence; "Because the sample was small." on its own is a fragment, fine in dialogue and wrong in an essay.
"However"
However at the start is the one the style guides still argue over. Strunk's 1918 Elements of Style says that in the sense of nevertheless it should not come first in its sentence, and allows it first only when it means "in whatever way" (Strunk, 1918/2011). Merriam-Webster (n.d.-b) answers with Austen, Charlotte Brontë and Benjamin Franklin, reports a purist's ban quoted in a 1920 Chicago Daily Tribune article, and calls the choice stylistic. For the MLA, Rappaport (2017) advises caution, since usage experts disagree and some prefer the less obtrusive but or yet. Whichever you choose, do not join two sentences with a comma before however: that is a comma splice, and our guide to signposting and linking words shows the fix, and who decides what is correct English has a linguist's count of how often famous writers put however first.
"So"
Grammarphobia's authors call a sentence-opening so not ungrammatical, and report that the OED dates so as an introductory word to Shakespeare's day (O'Conner & Kellerman, 2009). Chicago's answer includes so in Garner's list. Both university guides above name so among the words to avoid, so it is the one to check in your brief first.
How does EdCitation help with rules like this?
EdCitation is the best first step because this question has no single answer: Chicago allows sentence-opening And and But, while Walden's and Coventry's guides advise against them, and only your own brief settles which applies. EdCitation reads that brief rather than guessing, and it never writes or rewrites any part of your paper.
Check your paper, free
Check your paper reads an assignment's instructions into a checklist: word limits for each part, required headings, how many sources and how recent, the citation style, font, spacing and margins, each rule shown with the sentence it came from. An instruction about tone or register is not on that list, so read that sentence in your brief yourself. We wrote a short brief of our own for this guide, asking for "a formal academic register" and forbidding sentences that begin with "And" or "But". The checklist read ten rules from it, among them the 1,500 words, at least six scholarly sources from the last ten years, APA 7, the title page and the reference list. Both sentences on style came back whole under "What it asks you to do, which no rule can test": "Write in a formal academic register: avoid contractions, slang and a conversational tone." and "Do not begin sentences with "And" or "But"." Those are yours to check. Our guide to academic tone shows what came back for a real brief that allowed "I".
Theoretics QA and Mechanics QA
Judging your finished paper against its own assignment's instructions, with quotations from the paper, is Theoretics QA, part of Max at $24 a month; it never rewrites anything. Mechanics QA, part of Pro at $8 a month, checks a whole paper rule by rule: formatting against the style, comments and tracked changes left in the file, citations, numbers and language. Neither tool decides whether your But stays; you and your brief do.
The sources behind your usage claims
If you quote Fowler's or a dictionary, Cite a source, free, builds the reference from an ISBN or a web address in six styles, and Verify references, free, checks that every entry on your list is real.
Quick questions
Is it grammatically wrong to start a sentence with "and" or "but"?
No. Merriam-Webster, the Chicago Manual of Style, the MLA and Fowler's all say no rule of grammar forbids it, and the practice goes back to Old English.
Can I start a sentence with "but" in an academic essay?
Usually, yes, unless your brief or your university's writing guide says otherwise; some, such as Coventry's, advise against it. EdCitation's free Check your paper lists the rules in your brief with the sentences they came from.
Is it wrong to start a sentence with "because"?
No. Merriam-Webster calls it acceptable and widespread; the sentence simply needs a main clause after the because clause.
Where does the rule against starting with "and" come from?
From nineteenth-century school books and critics. Quackenbos's 1854 rhetoric banned and, for and however at the start, and George Washington Moon called it "not scholarly" in a book first published in 1868.
Does APA 7 allow sentences that start with "and" or "but"?
APA Style's website gives no rule on it, so the practice is acceptable in an APA paper unless your course says otherwise.
References
- American Psychological Association. (2024). Grammar. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar
- Austen, J. (1994). Northanger Abbey. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/121 (Original work published 1818)
- Bakke, A. (2019, September 16). Grammar for academic writers: Can I begin a sentence with "and"? Walden University Writing Center. https://waldenwritingcenter.blogspot.com/2019/09/grammar-for-academic-writers-can-i.html
- Battistella, E. (2016, February 14). It's fine to start sentences with "and". OUPblog. https://blog.oup.com/2016/02/start-sentences-with-and/
- Coventry University. (2026). Style and register. Centre for Academic Writing. https://libguides.coventry.ac.uk/CAWhomepage/styleandregister
- Fowler, H. W. (1965). A dictionary of modern English usage (2nd ed., E. Gowers, Rev.). Oxford University Press. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.231095
- The King James Bible. (2011). Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10 (Original work published 1611)
- Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Because. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/because
- Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-b). Can you start a sentence with 'however'? https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/can-you-start-a-sentence-with-however
- Merriam-Webster. (2026, May 6). Is it ever okay to start a sentence with 'and'? https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/words-to-not-begin-sentences-with
- Modern Language Association. (2019, May 29). When is it OK to start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/conjunction-at-start-of-sentence/
- Moon, G. W. (1871). Bad English exposed: A series of criticisms on the errors and inconsistencies of Lindley Murray and other grammarians (4th ed.). Hatchards. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.44162
- National Archives. (n.d.). The Constitution of the United States: A transcription. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
- O'Conner, P. T., & Kellerman, S. (2009, June 23). So why not? Grammarphobia. https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2009/06/so-why-not.html
- O'Conner, P. T., & Kellerman, S. (2011, March 20). Are we misguided? Grammarphobia. https://grammarphobia.com/blog/2011/03/and-but.html
- Quackenbos, G. P. (1857). Advanced course of composition and rhetoric. D. Appleton. https://archive.org/details/advancedcoursec03quacgoog
- Rappaport, J. (2017, December 28). However: Where to place it? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/however-where-to-place-it/
- Schiess, W. (2020, May 1). Beginning with "but". LEGIBLE. https://sites.utexas.edu/legalwriting/2020/05/01/beginning-with-but/
- Strunk, W., Jr. (2011). The elements of style. Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37134 (Original work published 1918)
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.). Beginning a sentence with a conjunction [Usage Q&A]. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0013.html