Which rule would you burn?

I have to say that I agree with everything said here so far.Particularly the whole bit about the fragments. I write so many fragmented sentences that if I don't fix them while I write it will take me just as long or longer to go back and fix them then it took me to write the entire piece.

I do have one thing I would like to add. I believe it is better qualified as spelling, but grammar and spelling are grouped together so often that I figured it would be okay to bring it up anyway.
The rule I before E except after C bothers me. I mean do you know how many times that rule is broken? (Weird, foreign, beige, neighbor, feisty, heist, must I go on?) Why is it even a rule if there are so many words that break it? Shouldn't it be more of a guideline used when trying to figure out the spelling of a word?
That one just bothers me so much it's not even funny.

I would totally burn the "do not start a sentence with but, because and and" rule! It's just so annoying and in the way sometimes! I'm sure there's a good reason for it and all but I still want to burn it

Silverlock wrote:I would totally burn the "do not start a sentence with but, because and and" rule! It's just so annoying and in the way sometimes! I'm sure there's a good reason for it and all but I still want to burn it

Oh, I know! I detest it so much, every time I want to start a sentence with it, the rule just burns in my mind and I have to add a few extra words to compensate for it. x.x

@Silverlock & @SubtleSanity

Those are teaching tools, you can in fact start a sentence with "But" and "Because", and still use correct grammar, however its hard to do that correctly, often resulting in awkward sentence structures. That set of rules first appeared as a teaching tool, a simplification (schools often do that, remember all those rules you get for math that keep changing every time you get to the next level?), however it never was designed and never has caused a change in grammar.


For example, if you wanted to use "Because" at the beginning of a sentence:

"Because the principal will not be in the building, the assembly has been postponed."

In addition, "but" can be used informally quite easily, for example:

But I am still awaiting his reply.

@Zolen I know that we can use but, and etc.. in dialogue and first person but not any other way and it still being grammatically correct. Could you explain this a little more? I'd love to know

@Silverlock

The word "because" can be used pretty much anywhere, its perfectly acceptable to use it as long as the sentence contains a cause-and-effect relationship, such as was shown above. Pretty easy really, its just a matter of remembering that little nugget. (Note you can ignore this nugget and it still be considered correct grammar [abused but still correct], however that requires specialized context.)

"But" "and", blah blah, all of it can be used, its simply a matter of being stuck in informal usage when you do.

If you wanted to use "but" for a sentence, something that would work is:

But we hope to write an agreement today.

More? Than we throw in a example where "and" would work:

And Clare knows how to write a good report.

Perfectly valid and descriptive, and proper grammar. A teacher who is trying to make a point might shake their red marker at it, but a book editor will let it slide.

(Yes I know my own grammar is all over the place, but my examples are still valid.)

= . =

I cringe every time someone unnecessarily starts a sentence with 'and' or 'because.' It genuinely drives me crazy. I mean, I don't mind if the rule is broken for a reason. Let's say Molly comes to the road and stops to look both ways. She sees the bus hurtling towards her.

And steps out onto the road.

That's impact. That's a good reason to break the rule. But starting sentences. And not completing them. Because the comma just isn't doing it for you. Makes me want to slice up the web page with a crafting knife so that I can re-arrange the words and glue them back together.

^^That made me grin XD

Well, as far as I know, the rule doesn't take play in dialogue.

There are no rules really. Grammar is what you make it. Only general consensuses, and they are often changed.
But I would like to bring back congigations in English.

Commas after every adjective. I got annoyed with an old teacher for this because I wrote a sentence "She picked up the light blue notebook." And cause my teacher misunderstood, she forced me to change it to, "She picked up the light, blue notebook."

I was so annoyed.