How To Use However At The Start Of A Sentence

Begin a contrasting statement with however.

How to use however at the start of a sentence. However you should be cautious about doing do. Usage experts disagree on whether it is ok to open a sentence with the term and some feel that the term should be kept to a minimum in general since using but or yet is less obtrusive cook 28 29. The roads were almost impassable. After a while however he gave the rope a quick jerk. The question i get asked most frequently about however is whether it is ok to use however at the beginning of a sentence and the answer is yes.

However you can start a sentence with however in fact starting a sentence with however is a clear way to link a new sentence to the previous sentence which is the primary function of a conjunctive adverb like however the loathing for starting a sentence with however causes lots of writers to use a comma before however and then write. It can join main clauses and it can modify a clause. It is fine to start a sentence with however. You are allowed to start a sentence with however many usages guides have tried to restrict the usage of however suggesting it cannot start a sentence be used with but or replace nevertheless but none of these guides can agree and there is ample historical evidence of however being used at the start of a sentence. Strunk white urges writers to shun however at the beginning of a sentence.

The comma is important because however is a conjunctive adverb that can be used in two different ways. However the woman and her husband were leaving to continue a summer long trip westward. Both uses require a comma after a word at the beginning of a sentence and before the word when it is used at the end. To introduce a sentence that contradicts or contrasts with the previous sentence start it with however this will alert your reader that a shift is forthcoming. Avoid starting a sentence with however when the meaning is nevertheless the word usually serves better when not in first position.

When placed at the beginning of a sentence the word however is intended to mean but or on the other hand when you put however at the end of a sentence the word can mean an aside by the writer. Always put a comma after the however and follow it with a complete sentence. However without a comma. Some old school grammar books will tell you not to use however at the beginning of sentence as a connector or as a transition from the previous sentence.