Pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) includes a few mental disorders which affect the development of communication and social skills in children. This post contains affiliate links.What is Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)? So donвЂ™t listen if anyone tells you that you canвЂ™t start a sentence with вЂњbecause.вЂќ Why not? Because we say so, of course. ДЄnd there you have it, two distinct and accepted ways of using вЂњbecauseвЂќ to start a sentence: either as the opener to a subordinate clause that preposes the following clause, or as a conversational way of answering a вЂњwhyвЂќ question.

Clearly this is one of those times when itвЂ™s good to break grammar rules. Pick up virtually any novel and youвЂ™ll see a lot of questions being answered with вЂњBecause I вЂ¦вЂќ constructs. TheyвЂ™re right вЂ¦technically.Д«ut most modern grammarians and writers disagree and feel itвЂ™s fine to use in more casual writing, when youвЂ™re trying to sound conversational, and, of course, when youвЂ™re writing dialogue. Persnickety nitpickers would argue that itвЂ™s not correct, that itвЂ™s a fragment that needs a rewrite. The perfect example of this is the time-honored kid-to-parent question: вЂњWhy canвЂ™t I stay out later?вЂќ вЂњBecause I said soвЂќ is a perfectly acceptable (albeit infuriating) answer. There is another time when you can start a sentence with вЂњbecauseвЂќ and not follow that two clause rule: if youвЂ™re using it conversationally to answer a spoken or unspoken вЂњwhyвЂќ question. And English has a way of bending the rules, so here we goвЂ¦ Another way to start a sentence with because ThatвЂ™s the rule of thumb about starting a sentence with вЂњbecauseвЂќ - you need two parts to the sentence, two clauses connected by a comma, to make it work.Д«ut this is English. To be correct grammatically, it needs to be followed by the second clause, the main one. This doesnвЂ™t work because the first clause isnвЂ™t a complete sentence on its own. If you split it into two discrete units, however, that guru would get quite perturbed. вЂњBecause IвЂ™m confused, IвЂ™m reading about starting sentences.вЂќ When you start a sentence with вЂњbecause,вЂќ you have to be sure that you use both clauses to make the sentence a complete one, like this: A subordinate clause is, yes, subordinate to the main one it describes it.ДЄs such, itвЂ™s not a stand-alone sentence like the main clause is. The thing with вЂњbecauseвЂќ is that itвЂ™s a subordinate conjunction, which means itвЂ™s usually used to connect two clauses - a subordinate clause and a main clause. Wait a second! We just did it again, but in a different way! See, as you just read, there are actually two different but completely acceptable ways of starting a sentence with вЂњbecause.вЂќ Starting a sentence with because: Two ways that work Why? Because itвЂ™s used at the opening of a subordinate clause thatвЂ™s connected to a main clause and. Yes, you can absolutely start a sentence with вЂњbecause.вЂќДЄndвЂ¦you caught that, didnвЂ™t you? Right there we started a sentence with вЂњbecause,вЂќ and itвЂ™s completely correct. Maybe itвЂ™s because it was drummed into their heads as kids by well-meaning adults who thought вЂњdonвЂ™t start a sentence with вЂbecauseвЂ™вЂќ was a rule (like so many other вЂњ grammar rules ,вЂќ it isnвЂ™t), or maybe itвЂ™s because theyвЂ™ve seen it used incorrectly (it often is).Д«ut for whatever reason, people often avoid starting a sentence with вЂњbecause.вЂќ Can you start a sentence with because?Д«ecause this happens so often, letвЂ™s cut to the chase. WeвЂ™ve been asked this question numerous times by readers of our вЂњword nerdвЂќ books and listeners of our NPR-affiliated podcast вЂњYouвЂ™re Saying It Wrong.вЂќ Yet it seems that a lot of people donвЂ™t know this and think you canвЂ™t.

The short and simple answer is yes, you can.

Pervasive sentence