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Originally Posted by Cloud  Do English grammarians agree on anything? Even books that some teachers regard as being authoritative (Murphy being a great example) are simply written to suit the language.
So much of English is natural but wrong though - look at the way that Scots will use phrases like 'my hair needs washed' or 'the cat wants out' - both of those are absolutely natural to my ears too, but they're wrong.
Anyway, even if it's natural, it would be punished by Cambridge examiners. And given that Cambridge exams are the closest thing that English has to a standardised test that's widely accepted - then they do have considerable influence, even if you or I don't agree.
Probably because most of them are arguing for the sake of argument. It certainly was taught in my primary and secondary schools, and even in different countries. Or maybe they simply had bad teachers that accepted the use of 'because' to start a sentence.
It's as good a rule as you'll get in English grammar - bearing in mind that even accepted authorities disagree on English (oh, the joy of having to explain to someone why Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries aren't exactly the same).
Anyway, bearing in mind the widespread use of 'because' to start a sentence by people that can easily be called chavs, would you or anyone else educated really want to use it?
Do you really teach people to start sentences with because? |
A couple of regional idioms aren't the same as the use of a basic part of speech. Neither does pointing to whole books which don't agree in part. Again, show me the consensus one cannot start a sentence with "because"? Show me this "rule"? A few posts ago you were claiming it was not a rule (deriding "grammar freaks and bearded Cambridge/Oxford workers"), merely that it was unnatural or "ugly". Then you claimed its use was guided by "arcane" rules and its use was dependent on context or further "obscure rules". Now you claim it is a rule. There is no such rule.
You are also wrong about Cambridge ESOL exams having some sort of monopoly on ESL testing.