Wednesday, November 13, 2013

A sign of the times

These few sentences were found in this year's O-level English language paper:

"But obviously, this type of initiative should go beyond..."
"So this week..."
"And you won't be tempted..."

What struck me was that all these statements begun with conjunctions, "but", "so", etc.

When I was in primary school, a very long time ago, it was strongly emphasized that sentences cannot begin with these words. Hence, if one wishes to express contrast, he has to use "however", instead of "but", at the start of a new sentence. Maybe this rule is considered old-fashioned now, especially in the context of digital media, where texts tend to be much less formal.

I suppose, even the august Cambridge has to make concessions, and move with the times.

2 comments:

xmac2006 said...

It's been officially acceptable for a few years already. Cambridge moves faster than we like to think.

RG said...

Everything starts with "So" ... for now.