Starting a sentence with a conjunction
This rule has been drilled into grade schoolers’ heads: “Never begin a sentence with and, but, or or.” It turns out there’s no rule against doing so. According to Oxford Dictionary Myth Debunkers, “The argument against using a preposition to introduce a sentence is that such a sentence expresses an incomplete thought (or ‘fragment’) and is therefore incorrect.” But if it has a subject and predicate (as in “And then I went home.”) it’s a sentence. If it doesn’t (“and then home”) it’s not.
Using ‘since’ when you mean ‘because’
Any good writer knows that since refers to time, and because refers to cause, right? Not quite. Although this distinction is specified in many style guides, so many people continue to misuse the word since that dictionaries have now expanded its definition to include because. So consider the two words “partially” interchangeable: Only use since in place of because if it’s not ambiguous. For instance, it’s unclear whether since refers to time or cause in this sentence: “Since I’ve had insomnia, I’ve been cranky.” Here are 24 more things you’ve been saying wrong this whole time.
