Don't Hurt Yourself Doing the Splits

Summer back-to-basics tip # 7: A case of conjunctivitis And so I was saying ... yes, you can start a sentence with a conjunction - words such as "and," "but," and "yet." But, when you do, you don't necessarily have to follow the conjunction with a comma.  Hey (you may be thinking to yourself), you, Dan Santow, just followed the word "but" with a comma. Why? Because the phrase after the conjunction - "when you do" - can't stand on its own. In other words, conjunctions that begin sentences require a comma if what follows can't live and breath on its own. Conjunctions that begin sentences do not require a comma if what follows can stand on its own. And it's Laszlo's favorite symphony! is right because "it's Laszlo's favorite symphony" can stand on its own. And, because it's Laszlo's favorite symphony, he insisted on humming along, much to the dismay of the entire string section is also right since "because it's Laszlo's favorite symphony" can't stand on its own. Summer back-to-basics tip # 8: Splitsville Though there's some disagreement on this, the idea of a "split" infinitive dates back to when people applied Latin rules of grammar to English. See, Latin verbs are made up of one word and English verbs are made up of two. So Ovid couldn't split infinitives (it was, like, a non-issue), but Shakespeare could. To split or not to split, that is the question. The answer? Yes, go bananas, split away if it sounds right to your ear. After all, you'll be in good company: Henry James, Willa Cather, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin, among many others, split infinitives and I don't hear anyone complaining.