Can you start a sentence with 'for example'

[hmcAsWas]

I am not a grammar aficionado (but I get by...). My dd has asked re her English homework, if she can start a sentence with 'for example' - I don't know if this grammatically acceptable but I assume you lot will?

No, but I don’t really know how to explain why not.

No it relates to the sentence prior to it then, which wouldn't make sense. So:

My children have different interests. For example, my daughter enjoys fishing and my son enjoys tap dancing.

That second sentence isn't a sentence, but if you used a semi colon, it would work.

“”For example” is not a grammatically correct way to start a sentence” is a proper sentence

Okay - thanks. Quick, helpful answers.

She had wanted to write:

"His feelings are portrayed in his use of language and the words he has chosen. For example, the use of ‘doomed youth’ in the title of the poem conveys Owen’s feelings...."

Hmc - I think that’s absolutely fine.

I'm with MBD - needs a semi-colon. Which my autocorrect changed to semi-colin. Not sure what one of those is.

I think that "for example" is a conjunction, and, as such, can't be used to start a sentence.

If you google your question you’ll find lots of support for starting a sentence with ‘For example’.

BeyondTheMoon* half a Colin?

That's interesting stonecircle.

hmc I think that example is fine to use.

(I don't think it's a preposition, though!)

It's fine. You can also start a sentence with 'And', 'But' or 'Nevertheless'.

You're not supposed to, though.

You're not supposed to, though.

Why not?

According to this www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/can-i-start-a-sentence-with-a-conjunction it's because Victorians thought people "couldn't handle the freedom of using conjunctions". Which is my favourite sentence I've read today.

CountDracula I was thinking it would be more like "someone who is not completely living up to the high standards required by the name Colin*

Sorry, I over-halloweened you CountDuckula!

In academic writing you often start a sentence with 'for example' - as in the example you provided. It's correct English.

Starting a sentence with "For example" looks good to me - nicely separates the general statement from the specific example. And, of course it's a legitimate sentence if it has a verb and a subject.

Also, why not start a sentence with "And" (as I just did)? It can be a useful way to signal an afterthought.

Yes, it's fine! Another option would be

"His feelings are portrayed in his use of language and the words he has chosen: for example, the use of ‘doomed youth’ in the title of the poem conveys Owen’s feelings...."

but I prefer your dd's.

No - "for" is a connective so it would relate to the sentence before. Just think FANBOYS (for, and, not/nor, but, or, yet, so) these words are all used to add further information directly related to the sentence so continue it rather than beginning a new sentence. X

The victorians were right
We can't handle the excitement

Utterly - where are you getting this nonsense that you can't start a sentence with and, yet, for, so ?

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. The Bible

‎And yet I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire. Dickens (that's "and" and "yet"!)

So now the Admiralty wireless whispers through the ether to the tall masts of ships, and captains pace their decks absorbed in thought. It is nothing. It is less than nothing. It is too foolish, too fantastic to be thought of in the twentieth century. Or is it fire and murder leaping out of the darkness at our throats, torpedoes ripping the bellies of half-awakened ships, a sunrise on a vanished naval supremacy, and an island well-guarded hitherto, at last defenceless?
Churchill ("So" and "Or"!)

I think it's perfectly fine (and I'm a languages teacher, if that lends anything to my credibility ). If it ever was against an actual rule, I'm pretty sure it's a rule that isn't really considered sensible any more.

All this nonsense about not being allowed to start sentences with 'and' 'yet', 'so' etc is the dumbed-down version of the rules - the version you tell kids when they are not yet able to manipulate the language in a sophisticated way.