Why do so many people insist that you can’t begin a sentence with a conjunction? Or end one with a preposition? Anthony Esolen thinks our high school English teachers are to blame.
I’m normally loath to point fingers at teachers, whose jobs are not for the faint of heart. But in this instance, I’m with Esolen. My son’s English teacher, for example, won’t allow split infinitives or sentence-ending prepositions. (Both, by the way, are nothing more than shibboleths.)
I shouldn’t complain, though. Knowing how and when to bend the “rules” of grammar and usage is what pays my mortgage.
