Before You Write “However”
Dear Legal Writer, Before you write “However,” at the start of a sentence, consider this:
▪️ “I love ‘But’ at the beginning of a sentence, and I never put ‘However’ at the beginning—almost never.”
— Justice Antonin Scalia (Garner, 13 The Scribes Journal of Legal Writing (2010), at 60.)
▪️ “‘However,’ is a ‘ponderous’ way to [start a sentence].”
— Bryan A. Garner, Garner’s Modern English Usage (2016), at 472.
“Ponderous” means slow, clumsy, dull, and laborious.
—Yikes! That should be the last way you’d ever want to write!
❓ So, can you use “However,…” to start a sentence or not?
Consider these 3 guidelines:
1️⃣ GRAMMAR
If you use of “however” to show contrast or indicate a shift in direction, make sure your use is grammatically correct.
These are all correct:
✔️ P is this. However, D is that.
✔️ P is this; however, D is that.
✔️ P is this. D, however, is that.
This one is incorrect:
❌ P is this, however, D is that.
2️⃣ USAGE
The word “however” without a comma means “in whatever way” or “to whatever extent.”
E.g.,
“However he travels there, he’ll be late.”
“Do it however you like.”
👉 So unless you intend this other meaning, always use a comma after “however.”
3️⃣ STYLE
Advanced legal writers—especially those who do a lot of high-level brief writing or teach on the subject—tend to harbor strong views on whether it’s preferable to start a sentence with “However,…”
When we see it, we react:
—Yuck!
—Yawn!
—Middle school!
—Frog got your throat?
With 3 plodding syllables and a pause for a comma, “However,…” also lacks “oomph.”
⬇️
To avoid these negative results, try one of these alternatives:
▪️ Place “however” (surrounded by commas) in the middle of your sentence.
E.g., “Bob aimed for high quality in his posts. Mary, however, strove for consistency. Mary’s approach ultimately begot better results.”
▪️Try one of these other good alternatives for “However,…”:
But
Yet
Still,
Even so,
All the same,
At the same time,
By contrast,
Best of the bunch tend to be “But…” and “Yet…” (with NO COMMA).
“But…” and “Yet…” each save you four letters and a punctuation mark.
In a legal brief, that might mean saving several lines of text. Every little bit helps when you’re trying to squeeze into a page limit.
I know that using “And” and “But” to start a sentence is what your middle-school teacher taught you never to do. That’s OK. You should be beyond that now!!
My rule of thumb is this: Don’t use more than one “However,…” sentence-starter in any brief.
🗳️ What’s your take on the “However” issue?
💌 Amanda