When I look at your writing, I cringe when I see “However, . . .” to start a sentence.

When I look at your writing, I cringe when I see “However, . . .” to start a sentence.

—What’s that you say? “However, . . .” is grammatically correct?

Yeah, yeah, I know.
I still cringe.

Here’s why you should reconsider using it:

🟦 Your reader is bored.

Starting a sentence with “However, …” is “ponderous.” Bryan Garner, Garner’s Modern English Usage (2016) 472.

“However” drags. It takes three syllables to say what “But” can do in one—and “But” doesn’t need a comma.

Besides, “But” saves you space.

In a brief, that might mean a couple of extra lines within a page limit.

Every little bit helps.

🟦 “However” also signals a MAJOR gear shift and only works when you intend a deliberate pause, signaling that what follows will upend or complicate what came before.

✔️ E.g., “The trial court’s ruling was understandable. However, it cannot withstand the plain text of the statute.”

But those occasions are unusual. Such a strong, formal transition like “However” is rarely called for at a sentence’s start.

Most of the time, the shift you’re signaling isn’t nearly that dramatic.

Every other time, “However” is almost always better recast later in the sentence—or replaced with “but,” “yet,” “still,” or “by contrast.”

🟦 Your reader may be confused.

“However” is an ambiguous word. It can mean “by contrast,” but it can also mean “to whatever extent.” The punctuation changes the meaning entirely.

Compare:

—“However fast your SUV goes, it won’t beat our sports car.”

—“However, your SUV won’t beat our sports car.”

The first means “no matter how fast”; the second means “by contrast.”

🟦 Don’t heed your middle-school teacher on this one.

Yes, your teacher told you never to start a sentence with “But.” Ignore that rule. It was meant to teach you to write complete sentences, and you’re past that now.

Starting with “However” is permissible—but it’s also formal, fussy, and a touch old-fashioned. “But” or “Yet” is cleaner and livelier.

Even Justice Antonin Scalia said so:

“I love ‘But’ at the beginning of a sentence, and I never put ‘However’ at the beginning—almost never.”

—Justice Antonin Scalia, The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing (2010), 51.

🟩 But if you really like “however,” keep it—just move it.

E.g.:

—“The agency’s rule seemed airtight. The court, however, found a fatal procedural flaw.”

—“Bob aimed for perfect quality in every LinkedIn post. Mary, however, prioritized consistency over perfection—and her reach grew faster.”

Those sentences are smoother than their “However, …” openings—and they read as confident, not tentative.

💌 Amanda

#DearLegalWriter

📫 What do you think about starting sentences with “However”? My rule of thumb is one max per brief.