Beginning sentences with the word and

There is a commonly stated “rule” of grammar that beginning a sentence with and, or any other conjunction, is a mistake. But this is just not true. This supposed “rule” has no basis in actual writing, and even formal writing features plenty of sentences that start with and and other conjunctions. And we think that is really cool. So, are we going to debunk this pesky rule (that isn’t really a rule) stating that conjunctions can’t be sentence leaders? Yes, we are.

Can you start a sentence with and?

The word and is one of the most commonly used words in English, and it is one of the seven coordinating conjunctions used to form complex sentences like this one. Normally, we use a comma when we join independent clauses together with coordinating conjunctions. For example:

• I have a cat, and my sister has a dog.

Now, it is time to answer the million dollar question. Can you start a sentence with the word and? Despite what some supposed grammar gatekeepers might tell you, the answer is yes! In fact, most style guides encourage starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction if you are trying to make a point or using it for stylistic emphasis. For example, we can use and for dramatic effect like so:

• We used every trick, strategy, and gimmick we had at the competition. And we won!

There are a variety of reasons that we might start a sentence with and, such as for rhetorical effect, style, clarity, or flow. That being said, some people consider this to be improper, so don’t be surprised if you have a teacher or boss that takes you to task over this “mistake.” Still, you probably don’t want to overdo it and start all of your sentences with and.

Examples

The following examples show the different ways we might use and to begin sentences.

• You may feel sad sometimes. And that’s okay.
• My neighbor is a nice guy who helps with yard work. And he gets me free coffee.
• The author announced another delay of her new book. And the reaction was just what you’d expect.

Can you start a sentence with but?

That takes care of and, but what about but? Like and, but is another of the seven coordinating conjunctions. All the points that we made about and apply to but as well. Typically, we use a comma when combining sentences with but. But we could use it to start a sentence instead! As with and, we might do this for many reasons. And it isn’t a mistake to do it!

Examples

Here are some examples of sentences that begin with but.

• I really need a new car. But I can’t afford one.
• It slices. It dices. It will file your taxes for you. But that’s not all!
• The comedian told all his best jokes. But nobody laughed.

You don’t always have to use but! Learn some alternatives for this common conjunction.

What about the other conjunctions?

As mentioned previously, and and but are two of the seven coordinating conjunctions. But what about the other five? Can we start sentences with them too? Yes, we can! While we typically use a comma to join sentences with coordinating conjunctions, we could also break those sentences apart.

Let’s look at examples of sentences that begin with each of the other five coordinating conjunctions.

• For: I didn’t tell my teacher I enjoyed her class. For that would be a lie.
• Nor: She didn’t hurt that poor kitty. Nor would she hurt any animal.
• Or: We could say we saw an alien. Or we could pretend none of this ever happened.
• Yet: Dash ran as hard and as fast as he could. Yet he still only finished third in the race.
• So: My daughter really doesn’t want to clean her room. So she has been hiding from me all day.

So far, we have only talked about coordinating conjunctions, but there are many more conjunctions out there. Can we start sentences with them, too? We sure can! For example:

• We will go to the store. After we eat breakfast, of course.

When we look beyond coordinating conjunctions, we see a new trend start to emerge. These other conjunctions are subordinating conjunctions, meaning they attach a subordinate clause to a main clause. Grammatically, it is considered perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with a subordinate clause. In fact, you will see this extremely often in formal writing and even the strictest grammarian would not consider this to be against the rules. For example:

• Because I needed an A on the test, I studied harder than I ever had before.

Additionally, many of these conjunctions can also be used as adverbs and it is totally in line with grammatical rules to begin a sentence with an adverbial phrase:

• After all that running around, my dog took a long nap.

All of this means that not only can you start sentences with conjunctions, you might end up with a much clearer and interesting sentence if you do!

Examples

Let’s finish things up by looking at a whole bunch of great sentences that begin with conjunctions.

• My kids would never steal something. Because they know stealing is wrong.
• I didn’t call his bluff. Although I was really tempted to.
• This puzzle is really easy. Even a baby could solve it.
• We will catch Bigfoot. If we can ever find him.
• She said she was going to meet Bart in Springfield. Wherever that is.
• Nate can be the best player on the team. When he feels like it.
• This mystery is all but solved. Now that Sherlock Holmes is here.
• The two brothers need to work together. Before it is too late.

And there’s more—Grammar Coach™, that is!

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In a nutshell, yes!

There are a number of confusing grammar rules in the English language, and whether or not it’s okay to start a sentence with and is one of them. Many of us, from a very young age, have grown up being told that starting a sentence with a conjunction such as and is a big no-no. In fact, let’s be honest, you’ve probably let this dictate a lot of the way you write.

But starting with a conjunction is allowed and can actually make things better. Simply starting with a conjunction – described as a word that joins other words, clauses or phrases – can make a sentence more forceful, dramatic or impactful. These shorter words often work much better than their transitional counterparts such as however, furthermore or additionally; all of which can soften the impact of a sentence.

End the misconception about and

Many of the old-school grammarists believe that it is rather inelegant to start a sentence with and. Thankfully though, that train of thought is coming to an end, with many writers already quite happily ignoring this rule. In fact, it’s not really a rule at all, more of a style choice.

So why can you begin a sentence with and? Well, starting with and can actually be a great way of reinforcing what has just been said in the prior sentence. With that in mind, we’re here to show you exactly how it’s done.

Starting a sentence with and, but doing it right

Starting all sentences with a conjunction will become annoying and won’t flow quite as well, so while you CAN do it, don’t OVERdo it. Continuous use can make a piece of writing seem stilted and full of fragmented sentences. If you are doing that, then those old teachers of yours might well be vindicated in their choice of telling you to desist! It’s also probably why they told you to avoid it in the first place, rather than just teaching you to write complete sentences from the start.

Let’s have a look at some examples.

A simple sentence starting with and can look like this:

And then she yelled.

Now imagine the sentence preceding it was:

Anne saw the mouse poke its face out of the hole. And then she yelled.

This is much more impactful and memorable than:

Anne saw the mouse poke its face out of the hole, and then she yelled.

Occasionally you will find yourself also starting a sentence with and but needing to include a comma. This will occur if the and is at the start of a clause that could actually be removed for the sentence entirely, yet still allow the sentence to make sense. Remember that the comma will have to bookend that entire clause for this to be grammatically correct.

Here’s an example:

And then, with an ear-splitting sound, she yelled.

Doing this makes the sentence a little more interesting, gives more information and generally adds a little flair. However, that section within the commas can also be removed without detracting from the sentence at all.

And in conclusion…

Well, there you have it. When writing, it is perfectly acceptable to start a sentence with and. But the trick is not to overdo it. If you do, you can end up running the risk of creating a more stilted piece instead of something beautiful. Next time that voice whispers in your ear that a conjunction shouldn’t start a sentence, turn that off and go ahead anyway!

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• #1

I see people give a picture in some web album the title which starts with «and» or «…and» (lowercase a). Do they assume people would know some story behind it that can be indicated in the picture? Or is there some meaning else?

• #2

Hi,

I would assume the web albums have a rather casual setting and that’s probably not a rule you should adopt for more formal writing. However, it might help if you could give us some examples of this usage of «and» you’re talking about.

Cheers!

• #3

Sometimes people (like me for example) use the titles to tell a story. So the title of photo #3 could be a continuation of the sentence that began with photo #1. I would normally use ellipses … to indicate that kind of continuation.

As a general guideline, students of English are advised not to start sentences with and, or even And. That helps to encourage good sentence structure. But you will find that experienced writers often begin sentences with conjunctions — it has always been so. For more, see these threads:

But at the start of sentence

«yet» at the beginning of a sentence

• #4

The Irish language often uses its ‘and’ at the start of a sentence. Some people with an Irish background can unconsciously use this formation when constructing a sentence in English — even though they might not know enough Irish to express the same thoughts in Irish .
A lot of the ungrammatical English spoken in Ireland can be traced to Irish language constructions.
Perhaps other languages have similar influences on how some people compose their English sentences.

• #5

Thank you, panjandrum.

Your comment is very educational to me.
I will remember «donate to you».

And I now find my error. «in a certain circumstances» is worng.
«in certain circumstances» or «in a certain circumstance» should be right.

Hello teachers.
This is from another thread posted by myself.

If I remember correctly, my English teacher used to say that «And» at the top of a sentence is not good.
Is it right?
If so, what is better instead of «And»?
«By the way,» or «Well«?

I think I often write a sentence starting with «And».
And I think it seems childish because my 8 year old daughter often uses and-equivalent-Japanese-word at the begining of her Japanese sentences, which seems very childish to me. So I am correcting her now.
So am I.

And I wonder if there were more proper and lofty conjunctions.
Please help me.

Last edited: Dec 31, 2008

• #6

You remember correctly- it is not proper to begin sentences with the word «and» or «but». Omit the «and» from the front of the sentence altogether. Other conjunctions depend on the topic.. you could use «also» or «for instance» if appropriate. I hope this helps..

• #7

«And» is a joining word so its use at the beginning of a sentence is not correct because you’re not «joining» anything when you start a new sentence.

I cannot tell you what is «better». There are many, many ways to do this but I would not use «By the way» or «Well». I’ll use the sentences that you provided in your post:

«I think I often write a sentence starting with «And». I think it seems childish because my 8—year—old daughter often uses and-equivalent-Japanese-word at the begining of her Japanese sentences, which seems very childish to me. So and I am correcting her now.

I wonder if there were are more proper and lofty conjunctions.»

I’ve simply deleted the «And»s.

I’ve also deleted the «So» at the beginning of your second-last sentence. Some would argue that it’s acceptable at the beginning of a sentence but I’m one of those who would not.

• #8

Using or not using and at the beginning of a sentence is a matter of style and not grammar. And, but, and numerous other conjunctions are perfectly normal and acceptable at the beginning of an English sentence as far as English grammar is concerned and are frequently found in corpora of natural English conversation.

In formal writing, though, you might opt for a more formal discourse marker, such as «moreover», «as well», «furthermore», «additionally» etc. In informal speech and writing, though, «And…» is just another perfectly ordinary discourse organizer.

• #9

Thank you, ValeLaPena, Dimcl and Transatlantic.

• #10

Using or not using and at the beginning of a sentence is a matter of style and not grammar. And, but, and numerous other conjunctions are perfectly normal and acceptable at the beginning of an English sentence as far as English grammar is concerned and are frequently found in corpora of natural English conversation.

In formal writing, though, you might opt for a more formal discourse marker, such as «moreover», «as well», «furthermore», «additionally» etc. In informal speech and writing, though, «And…» is just another perfectly ordinary discourse organizer.

Very well stated!

«And what of the things beneath its crust? And of the great spaces with no world
at all?» C.S. Lewis

• #11

You remember correctly- it is not proper to begin sentences with the word «and» or «but». Omit the «and» from the front of the sentence altogether. Other conjunctions depend on the topic.. you could use «also» or «for instance» if appropriate. I hope this helps..

Please remember to tell that ruffian W. Shakespeare.

As You Like It

:

Silvius. It is to be all made of faith and service; And so am I for Phebe.
Phebe. And I for Ganymede.
Orlando. And I for Rosalind.
Rosalind. And I for no woman.

• #12

I agree that «and» is often used at the start of sentences in literary contexts and in informal writing that is perhaps intended to reflect common speech patterns.

I do however think it is important (I almost started with «But» there) to confirm the general rule for the benefit of those learning English, which is that, as a matter of good style, they are best to avoid starting a sentence with «and» or «but» (or indeed «so»).

• #13

Please remember to tell that ruffian W. Shakespeare.

As You Like It

:

Silvius. It is to be all made of faith and service; And so am I for Phebe.
Phebe. And I for Ganymede.
Orlando. And I for Rosalind.
Rosalind. And I for no woman.

Oh- I only meant that my textbooks say one should avoid it in formal writings. They (usually) don’t put conditions on writing as an art form… thank you for the perspective!

I’m not incorrigible.

Last edited: Dec 31, 2008

• #14

In spoken English, I see no problem with beginning a sentence with «and», especially if you, or your daughter, or the Bard are adding to a previous thought.

In formal English it’s usually unnecessary.

If you insist, you could try:
I often think …
I also wonder …

• #15

Students of English should be aware that starting a sentence with a co-ordinating conjunction (such as and) is frowned upon by many people. Some of those people could be marking your English exams, so be careful.

The reason for their frowning is not that this is a grammatical error. To quote Fowler’s New Modern English Usage:
«There is a persistent belief that it is improper to begin a sentence with And, but this prohibition has been cheerfully ignored by standard authors from Anglo-Saxon times onwards. An initial And is a useful aid to writers as the narrative continues.»

It is frowned upon because it is a typical symptom of inadequate thought or a hacked-up run-on sentence.

«Do not start a sentence with a conjunction.» is a very useful guideline. Using a conjunction to start a sentence is generally a bad thing, but sometimes it is exactly right.
Hence this modified version of the «rule».
Do not start a sentence with a conjunction without being aware that you are doing it, and being confident that it is stylistically acceptable.

(There is an alternative version: Do not start a sentence with a conjunction until you have been writing English every day for at least 45 years )

• #16

I think that last rule is a bit harsh, Panj. but I take the point about learners not trying it in the first few years, and about people correcting English exams not always being broadminded about such things.

I hate to see such blanket rules laid down for beginners when they aren’t a matter of grammar at all. I know that teachers sometimes lay down rules which aren’t sound in themselves but maybe will elicit the right response from the pupil: my grandmother’s Lancashire driving instructor, Mr Grimes, told her sagely: ‘When ye get ter cross-roawds, git over before trouble develops’.

Are we necessarily to assume that nothing has gone before? You take away a wonderful resource of the language by making such assumptions. Here’s a great Elizabethan poet, one of the most elaborate anti-heroes of English literature, making fun this time of his incompetence as a lover by use of the device.

• #17

I fully agree with the fine advice given by panj, el escoces, and Transatlantic. Learners, both native and non-native speakers of English, should use great care, or be prudent and avoid an initial ‘and’. I maintain my sense of mirth toward those who confuse such advice with a «rule».

• #18

I second Panj’s approach. It’s asking for chaos, in my view, to attempt to teach a language on the basis of what some writers successfully do. One needs to learn to walk first, so to speak. Anything more advanced can wait.

As a general guideline for beginners, I see no harm in a rule that indicates that sentences shouldn’t be started with «and» or «but».

EDIT: and by rule I don’t mean absolute rule, clearly, but generally applicable rule (capable of being broken, like all good rules)

• #19

Just to confuse students further, it is fine to write

«‘And’ and ‘but’ are two common conjunctions,» and

«But for my timely advice, he would be in prison now.»

Rover

• #21

I think while technically the rule is that you can’t use «And» at the beginning of the sentence, it’s not a very important rule, so lots of people ignore it. It’s quite common to see, and I wouldn’t think anything of it if I saw it.

• #22

Technically the «rule» is due to and being a co-ordinating conjunction; in other words, it co-ordinates what is said before it in a sentence with what is said after it. It follows from this that it should be in the middle of a sentence because if it is the first word in a sentence, there is nothing before it in that sentence. Yet skilful writers and journalists use and in initial position. In those cases, and co-ordinates what has been said in the previous sentence with what follows it:

He sat down on a bench. And he wasn’t even tired.

Technically, this is of course wrong but it is commonly used for emphasis or as a stylistic device. The same applies to other co-ordinating conjunctions like but, for example.

• #23

I often start sentences with And or But.

I like Grumpy Old Man’s comment:

it is commonly used for emphasis or as a stylistic device.

• #24

I was schooled to never start a sentence with «and», and for many years I hewed to that rule. More recently I’ve found that starting a sentence with «and» can be just fine. And that’s just the way it is.

• #25

I remember to read somewhere in this forum that we should not start a sentence with and. Here is one reference below.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=64399 #4

The Wordreference contributor in #4 did not specify
— which grammarian he was citing, or
— why he thought that grammarian was authoritative, or
— what kind of English the «rules» were meant to apply to, or
— why the grammarian thought those were useful «rules».
In these circumstances, the «rules» must be taken with a big pinch of salt.

Last edited: May 12, 2009

• #26

Don’t start a sentence with «And».

That is a very useful rule/instruction/guideline for beginners in English. The thread that veracity linked in post #1 includes this incredibly wise statement:

panj said:

That «rule» is another of the «Guidelines for learners of English, native and non-native» that are very helpful, but should not be revered as solemn and binding commitments on everyone for ever.

See And at the head of a sentence.

• #27

I was taught (circa 1970) never to start a sentence with an and or a but.
I’ve always been pleased to ignore that particular meaningless rule.

• #28

Is it right to start a sentence with the word ‘AND’? I happened to see such usages many times in websites. But once my teacher said it is not a right usage. Actually I’m confused.

• #29

There are actually two types of usage that seem to get lumped together. There’s when a sentence starts with the word «and», and when a sentence fragment starts with «and». Examples:

We went to the store. And we bought some milk. And bread.

The first «and» starts off a sentence. The second «and» starts off a sentence fragment. I think that the prohibition against «and» originated in trying to discourage sentence fragments, but now many teachers simply state that sentences shouldn’t start with «and» even if it’s not a sentence fragment.

• #31

If you start a sentence with and, you suggest that something has gone before. Clearly the writer may have been unspecific about what the something may be. This is a device commonly used by writers to intrigue their readers and to raise questions in their minds.

It’s not something I’d recommend to learners in the language, but the suggestion that it should be solemnified into a rule of some kind is absurd.

• #32

Perhaps the commonest use of And starting a sentence is where the theme, rather than the preceding subject, is continued:

Newscaster: “Today, the president opened the new science block at the university.” [There is a videoed report, at the end of which…] “And, in other news, a bear was stuck up a tree in Washington.” [Another video is shown.]

The theme of “news” was continued, but the subject was changed.

Also
“So this concludes my lecture on the life of the squirrel.

And on another matter, I see that we have Professor Black in the audience, who has studied fruit trees for 20 years.”

The theme of a talk from someone continues, but his topic has changed.

I always see some shocked faces when I tell a classroom of college students that there is nothing wrong with beginning a sentence with the word and (or for that matter, the words but, because, or however).

I encourage them not to take my word for it, but to look it up, so I refer them to Ernest Gowers’ 1965 revision of Fowler’s Dictionary of Modern English Usage, which explains that the idea is “a faintly lingering superstition.” I also often suggest Garner’s Modern American Usage, which calls it a “rank superstition.” Superstitions don’t age well, apparently.

Even Wilson Follett’s stuffy Modern American Usage calls the rule “a prejudice [that] lingers from the days of schoolmarmism rhetoric.” William Safire included it in his book of “misrules” of grammar, and Strunk and White didn’t mention it as a problem at all. So there.

Yet the superstition persists, and it remains a common belief among students entering college.

The and style, which linguists sometimes call paratactic, is common in early middle and early modern English, as a look at the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Canterbury Tales, or the King James Bible will show. So how did this bit of folklore come about?

The idea that one shouldn’t begin a sentence with and was not one of the prescriptive dicta proposed by eighteenth century Bishop Robert Lowth or by his imitator Lindley Murray, but it did show up in some nineteenth century language commentary. As Dennis Baron first noted, George Washington Moon singled and out in his 1868 book The Bad English of Lindley Murray and Other Writers on the English Language.

Moon wrote that “It is not scholarly to begin a sentence with the conjunction and.” (He was referring to George Perkins Marsh, the scholar, diplomat, and environmentalist who penned Lectures on the English Language in 1860.) Marsh’s comment is telling, because he refers to sentence-initial and as “not scholarly,” suggesting that avoiding and is a matter of style or rhetoric.

The misconception that it is an error of grammar is a generalization of the reasonable rhetorical advice not to overuse coordination. If writers rely only on and, essays can become a mere sequential narrative: “It was summer and we went to the beach. And the sand on the beach was very hot. And after a while we got tired so we went home. And Mikey got sand in his bathing suit and the sand got all over the car.” You get the idea.

But what changed from the days of the King James Bible with its many sentence starting ands? One thing that changed was that scientific writing emerged as a genre with a great deal of prestige. Charles Bazerman’s 1988 classic study Shaping Written Knowledge traced the history of writing in The Philosophic Transactions of the Royal Society of London, noting that scientific writing shifted from observations of the natural world to proof-like test of theories. In fact, scholar Heidrun Dorgeloh compared the frequency of sentence-initial and in Modern English and Early Modern English narrative and scientific texts. She concluded that the use of and to begin a sentence “became associated with older, more narrative, and hence less professional style, and thus became increasingly stigmatized.” Her conclusion echoes George Washington Moon’s remark that beginning a sentence with and was somehow “not scholarly.”

Another thing that changed was mass education and the challenge of teaching sentence structure and writing conventions to large numbers of children. Several scholars have suggested that the supposed incorrectness of sentences beginning with and arose from efforts by school teachers to direct pupils away from the overuse of and. As linguist Arnold Zwicky put it:

Teachers quite rightly view this system of sentence connection as insufficiently elaborated, and they seek ways of getting students to produce connectives that have more content than vague association or sequence in time. At some point, I speculate…a blanket proscription, was born. Probably in elementary schools, from which it would have diffused to secondary schools and beyond.

But as students move beyond the elementary levels, we need to let them know that it is no error to begin a sentence with a conjunction. Professional writers and editors whom I have asked find sentence-initial conjunctions unobjectionable. One editor recently for a national publication put it to me this way: “As editorial director, I’m the decider. And I frequently use them in my own writing. And I allow them.”

And while we don’t know who first articulated the superstition that sentence initial conjunctions are errors, it is the sort of superstition we should be careful not to pass along to future generations.

Image Credit: “Blank paper with pen and coffee cup on wood table” by Karolina Grabowska. CC.0 via Pexels.

Comments:

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Several opinions about what is permissible in writing have acquired an almost religious authority with some English speakers. One of these opinions is that beginning a sentence with the coordinating conjunctions and and but is an unpardonable breach of usage.

Here are some typical reader attitudes:

I almost fainted when I read [a post] about the acceptability of beginning sentences with “and” or “but”.

[How can anyone] justify the use of conjunctions to begin a sentence? It simply drives me crazy!

Writers of English have been beginning sentences with and as long as English has been written. The Venerable Bede (672-735) did it. King Alfred (849-899) did it. You’ll also find examples in Swift (1667-1745), Johnson (1709-1784), Austen (1775-1817), Dickens (1812-1870), Orwell (1903-1950), and Roth (1933-).

According to The Chicago Manual of Style, the belief that beginning a sentence with and, but, or so is an error “has no historical or grammatical foundation.” Not only that, but “a substantial percentage (often as many as 10 percent) of the sentences in first-rate writing begin with conjunctions. It has been so for centuries, and even the most conservative grammarians have followed this practice” (CMOS 5.206).

Authors capable of “first-rate writing” are one matter. Teachers, on the other hand (and editors working with grammatically challenged adults) are wise to advise against it.

Writing is a craft. Every craft demands that beginners learn in stages. A rule against beginning a sentence with a conjunction has pedagogical usefulness. Beginning writers benefit from being guided. They don’t need to have all the rules and exceptions dumped on them at the outset.

My London headmistress forbade the use of semicolons. She said that semicolons could wait until students mastered the use of commas and periods. Her rule was intended to be transitional.

Beginning writers overuse the conjunction and. Giving inexperienced writers permission to begin sentences with and is asking for trouble. Here, for example, is an excerpt from the writing of nine-year-old Daisy Ashford:

Mr Salteena had dark short hair and mustache and whiskers which were very black and twisty. He was middle sized and he had very pale blue eyes

With this style of writing, a rule against beginning a sentence with and can only be a blessing.

In my teaching days, I forbade students to begin a sentence with because, not because I didn’t know about complex sentences, but because inexperienced writers tend to begin sentences with because and never get to a main clause. A practice that exacerbates this tendency in high school students is accepting sentence fragments as answers to essay questions on tests. For example:

Question: Why did Silas put Eppie in the coal hole?
Answer: Because she kept wandering away.

Teachers of every subject could contribute to a higher standard of student writing by requiring students to rephrase the question in the answer:

Question: Why did Silas put Eppie in the coal hole?
Answer: Silas put Eppie in the coal hole because she kept wandering away.

When students have learned to distinguish between a main clause and a dependent clause, they can progress to the use of because to introduce a subordinate clause. When they have learned to control their use of coordinating conjunctions, they can use them at the beginning of a sentence from time to time.

Here are two examples from the work of writers known for “first-rate writing”:

Besides, another purpose of the enlarged army…was to minimize the ever-present possibility of sedition. And with this purpose once again in mind, [Septimus Severus] took a number of steps to make the officers of the legions a privileged class and tie them firmly to his own person. –Michael Grant, History of Rome.

If he charged, I could shoot; if he took no notice of me, it would be safe to leave him until the mahout came back. But also I knew that I was going to do no such thing. –George Orwell, Shooting an Elephant

Like any stylistic device, beginning a sentence with and or but may be overused or used incorrectly.

A common fault with but is to use it where and is required. But is an “adversative conjunction.” It introduces a contrast. Some writers tend to begin a sentence with but when and is the appropriate choice. Here’s a revision suggestion from The Chicago Manual of Style:

Evaluate the contrasting force of the but in question, and see whether the needed word is really and; if and can be substituted, then but is almost certainly the wrong word.

Bottom line: Beginning a sentence with and or but is a common stylistic device used in English by the best writers of every century. Writers who dislike the device are free to avoid it. Forbidding it to inexperienced writers has pedagogical value, but condemning it out of hand is to set a fetish above English idiom.