The Writing Jobs

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 you write a sentence that begins with these words, you create 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 usually results in poor writing.) Actually, you can create fragments with conjunctions in several ways. First let's look at the rules for using conjunctions, and then let's consider when it might be useful to break them.

Rule One: Coordinating conjunctions

Those three words are coordinating conjunctions, along with "for," "nor," yet," and "so." The term "conjunction" means "join together." This means that you have one part of your sentence joined to another part with one of these words. This is the formula:
Part One + Conjunction + Part Two.
To follow the rules, you must have a Part One and a Part Two. If you leave out either part, you will have a sentence fragment. Here are some examples of this rule applied correctly.

"John loved Sally, and Sally loved Tom." The conjunction is joining two independent clauses (complete sentences, notice the comma).

"Tom loved Mary but not Sally." The conjunction is joining the independent clause "Tom loved Mary" to the noun phrase "not Sally."

"Mary did not love John or Tom." The conjunction is joining 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 chased after Sally instead." This is like the first example.

"John got upset with Frank and approached him in the parking lot after work." The conjunction is joining two verb phrases.

What do we learn from these correct examples, other than the fact that someone is going to have either 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." Part Two is missing, so this is a sentence fragment, meaning it is only part of a sentence. Now consider this incorrect sentence: "But we don't like the way most writers do it." Part One is missing, so this is also a sentence fragment. Very few writers make the first kind of mistake, but many make the second (sometimes on purpose and sometimes not).

Rule Two: Subordinating Conjunctions

While Rule One is pretty easy to use, and errors with Rule One are really easy to fix, Rule Two is a bit trickier. First, let's define "subordinating conjunction." A subordinating conjunction starts a phrase or clause that only has value because it tells something about an independent clause (think: complete sentence again). As an analogy, pretend you have a job. You have that job only because the company for which you work exists. You are subordinate to that company. Now pretend that one day you go to work only to find out that the company has gone out of business. Suddenly, you are without a job. In the same way, a clause or phrase that starts with a subordinate conjunction only has a job when it is attached to a complete sentence. By itself, it 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 phrases they start tell something about the main verb. Subordinate conjunctions do one of four things: tell when something happened, show a cause and effect for actions, provide opposing information about an action, and establish some kind of condition for the main action to occur. Here are a few examples showing correct usage.

Time: "Since kissing Mary, Frank felt guilty." "Since" is the subordinating conjunction, starts the subordinate phrase "since kissing Mary," and tells when Frank felt guilty.

Cause and effect: "Because Frank felt guilty, he told Tom what he had done." "Because" is the subordinating conjunction, starts the phrase "Because Frank felt guilty," and explains the cause of his weird action (tell).

Opposition: "Even though Tom was angry, he forgave Frank." "Even though" is the subordinating conjunction and starts the subordinate phrase "Even though Tom was angry," which provides opposing information to "he forgave Frank."

Condition: "Unless Frank kissed Mary again, Tom promised to forget all about it." "Unless" is the subordinating conjunction, starts the subordinate phrase "Unless Frank kissed Mary again," and establishes a condition for Tom forgetting.

What have we learned, other than the fact that Tom is perhaps too forgiving but perhaps a bit possessive over a girl who doesn't care for him? Each subordinate phrase needs an independent clause (still thinking complete sentence?) to have a job. By itself, the subordinate phrase, started with a subordinating conjunction, will be a sentence fragment. In each of these examples, the subordinating conjunction is at the beginning of the sentence, but the entire phrase could be moved after the main verb. For example, you could write, "Frank felt guilty since kissing Mary." (Notice that the comma is gone.)

Some other examples of subordinating conjunctions are:

Time: "when," "as," "after," "before," "until," "while"

Cause and effect: "now that," "because," "since," "so that

Opposition: "even though," "although," "rather than," "instead of," "while"

Condition: "if," "in case," "should," "even if"

Breaking the rules

Call us rebels if you want, but we think that breaking the rules is sometimes acceptable. If you do it carefully. When you create a sentence fragment, such as we just did, you create a hard pause in the reader's mind. You draw much attention to the fragment and what the fragment says. Basically, you are telling the reader, "Stop! Pay attention to this."

If you do this once in a great while, you won't be criticized by most readers. However, if you do this frequently, you make your writing tedious to read, and you will seem quite amateurish as a writer. A good editor will know when doing so is useful-and when it is not. Our advice is this: examine your conjunctions (especially your subordinating conjunctions) carefully and make sure that 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.