Timeline for Can I start a sentence with Then?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Mar 31, 2015 at 22:30 | comment | added | Snapman | I see your point, but in the original suggestion, the word "then" is not really necessary. Since it is there, it is describing the result of saying "No, you can't," but it is describing the result before it tells you what triggered it. If you put the result at the end, I believe it flows better. But since @gnmorr is transcribing something, it doesn't matter too much! :) | |
| Mar 31, 2015 at 21:30 | comment | added | Hot Licks | I have to disagree that the "then" clause must be last as you describe. Certainly it's common to say something along the lines of "Then, when I said 'No,' she walked away." And I think the original suggestion is well within the range of acceptability for "normal" English. | |
| Mar 31, 2015 at 18:03 | comment | added | gnmorr | I wish I could rephrase, but it's part of a transcription job. :( | |
| Mar 31, 2015 at 16:43 | comment | added | Matt Gutting | I would count as grammatical a phrasing like *Then, when I said "No, you can't," she walked away - which I suppose is just an embedding of your second sentence into your third, and thus still follows your rule. | |
| Mar 31, 2015 at 15:45 | history | answered | Snapman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |