Use the word plus in a sentence

Examples of how to use the word “plus” in a sentence. How to connect “plus” with other words to make correct English sentences.

plus (n, adj ,conj, prep): an advantage or a good feature; A plus number or amount is more than zero; and also; added to

Use “plus” in a sentence

The mathematical word plus has added various functions to its set since entering English from Latin in the 16th century. It can be a noun (statistical ability is a plus), a preposition (one week plus a day or two), an adjective (it’s plus 30° outside), and a conjunction (cycling’s a great way to stay fit, plus it’s good for you).

The last of these, used at the start of a sentence or independent clause and often followed by a comma, may also be described as an adverb (Plus, I wasn’t sure if you’d be there); authorities differ on the categorisation. The usage is controversial, receiving “considerable adverse comment” (MWDEU) and causing “widespread ripples of dismay among purists” (Robert Burchfield).

This plus has been around since the 1950s–60s, appearing mainly in speech and informal writing. The OED labels it colloquial, which is enough to make many people think there’s something wrong with it. According to the American Heritage Dictionary (5th ed.), however:

The use of plus introducing an independent clause has long been considered infelicitous, if not wrong. But a clear majority of the Usage Panel accepts it. In our 2009 survey, 67 percent accepted the example He has a lot of personal charm. Plus, he knows what he’s doing.

The AHD Usage Panel is not known for being lax about such things. Similarly, the Columbia Guide to Standard American English (1993) finds that conjunctive plus, though limited mainly to conversation and other informal contexts, is standard; as a sentence adverb it’s informal and conversational only.

A search for sentence-initial plus on the Corpus of Contemporary American English returned this graph, which shows both how its distribution is weighted towards the less formal registers of speech and magazines, and also that its occurrence has increased noticeably even over the last couple of decades (click to enlarge):

As a relatively new usage, conjunctive plus is bound to attract negative attention. The excellent Copyediting.com newsletter of Oct.–Nov. 2013 (requires subscription) has a useful article by Mark Farrell on editors’ attitudes to it: “Additional Conjunction Creates Division Among Editors”. Many of my tribe, it turns out, are set against it.

One editor said she “[didn’t] like the idea” of using plus at the start of a sentence because it was “confusing” (because less recognised). Another had never heard anyone say it, but associated it with “poorly written text”. A third said sentence-initial plus would “sound like a non-sentence”. Others were less disparaging and dismissive.

Farrell had emailed me for reaction, and in his conclusion agreed with my let’s-wait-and-see take on it. Here’s the relevant section from his article:

Stan Carey, an editor from Galway, Ireland, sees the increased appearance of plus at the beginning of a sentence as a sign of the language’s vitality. “I think it’s fine in casual contexts, but it tends to be avoided in more formal prose. Given that some people still object to sentence-initial and, it’s not surprising that a similar use of plus – a much more recent development – attracts criticism. It’s too new to be accepted at all levels, but as a grammatical innovation it signifies a language in good health.” Carey has written more about the subject at the Macmillan Dictionary Blog.

Why does this matter?

Editors’ work is mostly invisible to the public; like sports referees, we’re noticed more when we do a bad job. One aspect of editing is keeping formal written registers free of colloquialisms. So you don’t tend to see intensive literally in formal texts unless the word itself is being discussed or it’s used ironically or in quoted speech. But that doesn’t mean this use of literally is “wrong”. It’s just not appropriate in those contexts.

Plus, the proscriptive mindset gets extended beyond its natural limits. Many people, not just editors, conflate formal with normal (it’s anything but) and censure informal usages in informal domains. Not only is this a waste of time, it also betrays a value judgement without basis in linguistic fact. That formal varieties of English are intrinsically superior is a misconception best disowned.

Collectively editors help regulate standard English – itself a variegated and ever-shifting group of dialects – but we often disagree about what should be regulated and why. The that/which rule, for instance, survives largely through the work of editors who consider it important (I think the rule is unnecessary and counterproductive).

Using plus to open a sentence or independent clause is common and becoming more so. It may feel too casual for elevated writing, and that’s fine: if you’re editing and you think you should keep it out, do. But bear in mind that its status may change – this often happens – plus there’s nothing actually wrong with it.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 7th, 2013 at 10:59 am and is filed under editing, grammar, language, usage, words. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Starting a Sentence With Plus

by Owen Fourie

I have seen a lot of writing lately where there are sentences beginning with the word plus. For instance,

The director learned that his company was responsible for the injuries suffered by the workers. Plus, there could be no evasion of the responsibility for the compensation that would be required.

Such usage in formal writing is not correct.

The word plus may be used, but don’t let it stand at the beginning of a sentence.

What part of speech is plus?

• It can be an adjective as in “a plus value” when referring to a position on a scale of measurement.
• It can be a conjunction as in arithmetical usage: “two plus two is four”; or as in a description of a person: “Her innate charm plus her refined behavior made her a desirable person.”
• It can even be a noun: “The promise of good weather was a plus for their plan to spend the day at the seaside.” However, this usage is more acceptable informally than formally.

Can plus also be a preposition?

In my opinion, although various dictionaries indicate that plus can also be a preposition, the examples that are given seem to confirm its role as a conjunction.

It is possible to substitute the conjunction and for the word plus without radically changing the meaning:

• perquisites plus annual increments;
• perquisites and annual increments

If someone insists that “perquisites plus annual increments” means “perquisites together with annual increments,” it might be necessary to concede a prepositional status to plus.

Is plus a conjunction or a preposition in these sentences?

• The fluctuating market plus the political instability makes me uncertain about traveling.
• Skepticism plus sarcasm makes for an unpleasant audience.
• His determination plus his skill makes him a worthy opponent.

In each of these sentences, we have a noun phrase or a noun on either side of the word plus forming a compound subject.

The verb makes is singular. Since subject and verb must agree in number, in each sentence, the compound subject is being regarded as singular.

Taking a singular subject, we could replace plus with “together with” or “in addition to.”

• Skepticism together with sarcasm makes for an unpleasant audience.
• His determination in addition to his skill makes him a worthy opponent.

Doing this, one could argue that this makes plus a preposition.

If plus is a preposition, then we could begin these sentences with plus.

• Plus sarcasm, skepticism makes for an unpleasant audience.
• Plus his skill, his determination makes him a worthy opponent.

This not only sounds odd, but it is also unacceptable in formal writing.

Substitute and for plus and what do you get?

It is more accurate to regard plus as a conjunction in these sentences.

Substitute the conjunction and, and change the verb to its plural form if you feel that the elements of the compound subject should be taken as plural rather than singular.

• Skepticism and sarcasm make for an unpleasant audience.
• His determination and his skill make him a worthy opponent.

You could, of course, see skepticism and sarcasm as inseparable in a particular kind of audience and take these traits together as singular:

• Skepticism and sarcasm makes for an unpleasant audience.

Don’t start a sentence with plus

Using plus adverbially as a sentence connector seems to be quite common on the Internet:

These three reasons should be enough to convince them of their mistake. Plus, they can hardly deny their responsibility in this matter.

Using moreover or finally instead of plus would be correct and far better.

All in all, it should be obvious to you that the word plus sits uncomfortably at the beginning of a sentence or at the beginning of an independent clause.

There seems to be no justification for such usage. In formal writing, you should avoid using it in that way.

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What other words have you been advised to avoid at the beginning of a sentence? What explanations have you been given for not using them in that position? Your comments, observations, and questions are welcome.

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