"So, I bought a new phone!"
So, how was your day?
So, it has been raining since morning today.
So, I am travelling to Delhi this evening.
Here, we are not referring to so as a conjunction (a word that joins two sentence). For example, It's raining so I am not going out.
I have heard many people using it that way. Are you one of them?
Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg, Chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms, is one of them.
Textbook grammar says one should never begin a sentence (much less a conversation) with a conjunction like so, and, or, etc.
The proponents of its such usage say it sets a context to start a discussion or a conversation; and it sounds more natural that way. Something like a substitute for "You know, .. Well, ... " etc.
They say when you start a conversation with: "So, I am travelling to Delhi this evening", it means "I have been wanting to tell you about my travel plans ..." Or, "Well, there is a change of plan, so I am travelling to Delhi this evening."
However, the opponents say, it is not only grammatically wrong but it also makes the speaker sound a bit defensive (for some unknown reason) saying something that the listener wouldn't be prepared to hear.
I am not one of those who would begin a conversation with so because it sounds a bit odd when I hear someone use it in that manner.
Language is all about usage, is it not? If it conveys the right meaning, then the usage should be deemed to be right!
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This post is part of the blogging challenge in April every year, wherein bloggers put up one post a day, from A to Z, every day except Sundays.
I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z. I am also on A2Z April Challenge.
Image credit: Pixabay
Yes, ideally, it’s wrong to start a sentence with a conjunction. But I’ve never been a purist. (Did you see what I just did there?) IMO, one needs to alter course as the situation demands. I tend to start fresh lines with ‘so’, ‘and’, ‘but’, in my blog posts sometimes.
ReplyDeleteOr else I’d just end up writing super long sentences and wavering the attention of the average reader.
The joy of language is that it's dynamic and as such it changes, so rules that applied once upon a time may not be so relevant today. So on that basis I do occasionally begin a sentence with "So". ;)
ReplyDeleteMy S post S Is For Sparring
Interesting... Personally, I would not like to start a sentence in that manner.
ReplyDeleteI wrote an entire blog on that a month or so ago. I do not like the use of the word SO to start a sentence. It sounds so....wrong. And smacks of veiled aggression, even though that is never the speaker/writer's intent.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteOne of my pet subjects! As mentioned in a recent comment, I have only recently accepted that current usage (and historical examples, it turns out) permit beginning a sentence with 'and' or 'but' according to context. I have never, and can see no positive argument for, beginning any sentence with 'so'. That said, in general conversation, if one has been discussing a matter which might lead to the requirement - that is to say, during and not to begin - one might pick up the context and prompt further discussion by using, "So(ooooo)..." YAM xx
S=Schism
So is a very common start of sentence in India atleast ..it creates fun in conversation....lil bit of drama too i feel, when u pause like so.....😅 I think some grammatical rules can be defied for day to day usage. Though at professional level i will avoid the usage
ReplyDeleteDropping by from a to z "The Pensive"
Hi Pradeep - So ... not one I'd use, I don't think! But quite honestly one doesn't listen to what one says ... yet if I wrote it - I'd change/correct it ... So - Im off now!!!! Cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteSo many rules in English grammar. Never start a sentence with a conjunction. Never end a sentence with a preposition. Here is a joke. A freshman student at Harvard met a few senior students. He asked them: Where you all from? The seniors replied: We are from a place where we know not to end a sentence with a preposition. The freshman replied: I am very sorry. Where you all from Axxholes?
ReplyDeleteSo has become like a place keeper in language.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally start a sentence with a conjunction but only leave the conjunction if my character is talking.
Shots and Sirens
I do use "so" to start statements. Although, telling me Zuckerberg does makes me rethink my position...
ReplyDelete