{"id":7748,"date":"2015-03-20T09:43:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-20T08:43:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/?p=7748"},"modified":"2023-07-23T15:32:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-23T13:32:47","slug":"myth-its-incorrect-to-start-a-sentence-with-because","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/academic-writing\/myth-its-incorrect-to-start-a-sentence-with-because\/","title":{"rendered":"Myth:  It\u2019s incorrect to start a sentence with \u201cbecause\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Another <a title=\"Provisional writing advice consists of rules that help a writer begin the learning process.\" href=index-4778.html#provisional\">provisional rule<\/a>, the maxim that no sentence should begin with \u201cbecause\u201d is likely the result of a teacher\u2019s frustration with sentence fragments.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The following, for example, is a grammatical mistake called a sentence fragment: \u201cBecause she told me to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is a sentence fragment due to the word \u201cbecause\u201d being a \u201csubordinating conjunction\u201d\u2014a subordinating conjunction makes the clause it appears in unable to stand on its own as a sentence. In other words, although normally the clause \u201cShe told me to leave\u201d can stand alone as a sentence (which is why we call it an <strong>independent<\/strong> clause), the addition of the word \u201cbecause\u201d bars this possibility (replacing the independent clause with what\u2019s called a <strong>dependent<\/strong> clause).<\/p>\n<p>To combat the tendency to make sentence fragments with \u201cbecause\u201d in this way, writing advisors often tell beginning writers never to begin a sentence with \u201cbecause.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But no error is necessarily involved in beginning with \u201cbecause.\u201d Beginning a sentence with \u201cbecause\u201d is acceptable so long as the because-clause is followed by another clause that completes the sentence.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, the trick with \u201cbecause,\u201d as with any other subordinating conjunction (e.g. <em>although, since, when,<\/em> etc.), is to <strong>remember that \u201cbecause\u201d always implies a two-part sentence<\/strong>: a dependent clause must always attach to an independent clause.<\/p>\n<h3>Examples:<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"rightWrong\">\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>Because she told me to leave, I was lonely. \u00a0(dependent + independent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>I was lonely because she told me to leave. \u00a0(independent + dependent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>Because I was lonely, she told me to leave. (dependent + independent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>She told me to leave because I was lonely. (independent + dependent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-ban\"><\/i>Because she told me to leave. \u00a0(dependent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-ban\"><\/i>Because I was lonely. (dependent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>I was lonely. (independent)<\/li>\n<li><i class=\"fa fa-check-circle\"><\/i>She told me to leave. (independent)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This article is part of\u00a0<a title=\"Writing myths: The reasons we get bad advice\" href=index-4779.html>Writing myths: The reasons we get bad advice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"other\"><strong>Other interesting articles<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>If you want to know more about AI for academic writing, AI tools, or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!<\/p>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-md\" style=\"background-color: #e8f2fc; padding: 1.27rem 1.56rem; line-height: 1.8; border-radius: .5rem; margin-right: 0.5rem; margin-top: 0.5rem;\">\n<p><strong><em class=\"fa fa-exclamation-triangle\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/em>Fallacies<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 5px;\">\n<li><a href=index-3388.html>Begging the question fallacy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-3389.html>Hasty generalization fallacy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-3390.html>Equivocation fallacy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1583.html>False cause fallacy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1584.html>Sunk cost fallacy<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\" style=\"background-color: #e8f2fc; padding: 1.27rem 1.56rem; line-height: 1.8; border-radius: .5rem; margin-right: 0.5rem; margin-top: 0.5rem;\">\n<p><strong><em class=\"fa fa-desktop\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/em>\u00a0AI<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 5px;\">\n<li><a href=index-1585.html>Deep learning <\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1586.html>Generative AI<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1587.html>Machine learning<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1588.html>Reinforcement learning<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1589.html>Supervised vs. unsupervised learning<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\" style=\"background-color: #e8f2fc; padding: 1.27rem 1.56rem; line-height: 1.8; border-radius: .5rem; margin-right: 0.5rem; margin-top: 0.5rem;\">\n<p><strong><em class=\"fa fa-cogs\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/em>\u00a0(AI) Tools<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"padding: 5px;\">\n<li><a href=index-989.html>Grammar Checker<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-988.html>Paraphrasing Tool<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-990.html>Text Summarizer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-1590.html>AI Detector<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-931.html>Plagiarism Checker<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=index-991.html>Citation Generator<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Another provisional rule, the maxim that no sentence should begin with \u201cbecause\u201d is likely the result of a teacher\u2019s frustration with sentence fragments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Myth: It\u2019s incorrect to start a sentence with \u201cbecause\u201d<\/title>\n
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