John Dixon, independent medical writer and trainer in scientific writing skills, provides a useful tip for medical writers who work in MedComms.

John’s Linkedin page is at https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndixon-lsc/

John’s web page is at https://librasciencecomms.co.uk

Note these “bites” are recorded online using the zoom.us platform and hence quality may be affected by variability in internet connectivity and quality of webcams. The tips, however, are always first class!

Recorded 25 October 2019. Produced by NetworkPharma.tv

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Transcript

Hi, I’m John Dixon, a trainer in scientific writing, and here’s a bite that I hope may help you with your writing.

So, can you start a sentence with but or and? [NEXT SLIDE]

‘But’ and ‘and’ are examples of seven coordinating conjunctions
The seven are: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so – remember them using the acronym ‘FANBOYS’
They’re commonly used in the middle of a sentence to join together independent clauses: [NEXT]
For example: X is as effective as Y, but not as effective as Z. [NEXT]

The problem is that there’s widespread belief that starting a sentence with a coordinating conjunction is poor grammar … poor style [NEXT SLIDE]

Well, you can start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction:

And this is supported by authoritative and well-known style guides such as:
Fowler’s Modern English Usage, The Chicago Manual of Style and The Penguin Writer’s Manual [NEXT]

Shakespeare had no problem with this either …

But soft, what light from yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun … (Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) [NEXT]

Nevertheless, style guides also agree you should only occasionally do this! [NEXT]

Well, I hope that’s helpful. For more bites, visit NetworkPharma.tv

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