What they're teaching my kids about punctuation and grammar
My son's 3rd-grade teacher thinks it's okay to begin sentences with "but." I saw it on poster in her room and in a student-written example she handed out.
Another son's 6th-grade teacher requires him to include a full complement of serial commas: a, b, and c. My son was tested on it today. I saw the review sheet and the teaching materials.
What gives? Where is it that writers are learning that you can't begin sentences with "but" and that you don't need a comma before the conjunction in a series?
Another son's 6th-grade teacher requires him to include a full complement of serial commas: a, b, and c. My son was tested on it today. I saw the review sheet and the teaching materials.
What gives? Where is it that writers are learning that you can't begin sentences with "but" and that you don't need a comma before the conjunction in a series?
I was definitely taught that there doesn't need to be a comma before the and. That's unless the series is complex. Either way seems fine to me.
Schools appear to change what is correct grammar every few years.
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confess that I'm a bit confused. Do you disagree with what your children are being taught? I'm not. I've been writing and editing for many decades and for just about as long have seen nothing wrong with starting a sentence with "but" or "and" -- though when I was in elementary school, I was taught otherwise. Now, however, I believe every authority would allow it except in the most formal of writing.
As to the serial comma, I think that requiring it for sixth graders is OK. It's a conservative approach to punctuation, but one that is not wrong. In general, authorities suggest using the serial comma only when it's necessary to avoid confusion. But requiring young children to use it relieves them of the challenge of figuring out what's potentially confusing to their readers. As their writing develops, some of them will learn that they can safely omit it in most cases.
Wayne says:
I approve of what my kids are being taught. Lawyers should use the serial comma--though trying to convince most of them is a losing battle.
And it's okay to begin sentences with "but," though convincing some lawyers of that is a losing battle, too.
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Bryan Garner's The Redbook: A Manual on Legal Style, para. 10.47 states: "When appropriate, use a coordinating conjunction to gein a sentence to emphaise contrast (but, yet), additional support for a proposition (and), an alternative (or), or a logical conclusion (so)." I don't agree with Garner on everything, but I think he makes sense here.
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