{"id":382,"date":"2012-01-21T13:28:31","date_gmt":"2012-01-21T13:28:31","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-01-21T13:28:31","modified_gmt":"2012-01-21T13:28:31","slug":"and-lizzie-borden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/franklycurious.com\/wp\/2012\/01\/21\/and-lizzie-borden\/","title":{"rendered":"And Lizzie Borden"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LizzieThis is something I hear a lot, “But isn’t it wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction?” (When I read it, there is no conjunction at the beginning of that sentence.) And I always reply, “You learned that in grammar school, didn’t you?” And they always respond in the affirmative.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what these teachers are thinking, but I have a guess. Before we get to that, however, remember that grammar school teachers say a lot of things that are wrong. I believe that the rule against starting sentences with a conjunction is to avoid writing like this:<\/p>\n

Lizzie Borden was crazy. And one day she got real mad at her parents. And she went into the barn. And she picked up an ax. And she went into her mother’s room. And she gave her mother forty whacks. And then she went to her father’s room. And she gave him forty whacks. And then she gave him another.[1]<\/a><\/div>\n

Don’t write like that. But don’t worry about starting a sentence with a conjunction, either.<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Much better is the creepily cheery poem:<\/p>\n

Lizzie Borden took an ax
\nAnd gave her mother forty whacks
\nWhen she saw what she had done
\nShe gave her father forty-one.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is something I hear a lot, “But isn’t it wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction?” (When I read it, there is no conjunction at the beginning of that sentence.) 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