Question to start question

[hi4apoorva]

Can somebody tell me if there is a rule regarding starting sentences with following:

That
Because
It
Having
Participles
And

How do we check whether it's valid or not-do we filp the sentence.Let me know of I need to post questions which are started with above words.

TIA,
AP

[RonPurewal]

Can somebody tell me if there is a rule regarding starting sentences with following:

That
Because
It
Having
Participles
And

How do we check whether it's valid or not-do we filp the sentence.Let me know of I need to post questions which are started with above words.

TIA,
AP

of these, only "and" is never a legitimate word with which to begin a sentence. (specifically, you can't begin sentences with "coordinating conjunctions"; for a list of those, you should probably just google that phrase.)

if the sentence begins with a participle, that participial modifier should be set off by a comma and should modify the noun that immediately follows the comma. (note that this construction will always be a modifier; it's impossible for an independent clause to start with a participle.)

when you say "it", i'll assume that you're probably talking about this sort of construction (see thread):
post35590.html#p35590

"having" is just a participle, so it follows the same rules set out for other participles (see above).

in normal writing, most sentences starting with "that" will use it as an adjective, e.g., that alligator will bite your hand off if you get too close.
on the other hand, you won't see that sort of thing in sentence correction, because it can't stand alone without a previous sentence to explain exactly which alligator is "that" one.
therefore, in sentence correction, the only sentences you are likely to see beginning with "that" are of the following (extremely rare) construction:
that george arrived on time was a surprise to everyone present.
(if you have a hard time understanding what the sentence is supposed to say, it's roughly equivalent to "everybody was surprised that george arrived on time.") the subject of the sentence is the entire clause "that george arrived on time".

"because" is just a subordinating conjunction, so it can begin sentences as can almost every other subordinating conjunction: e.g., because i was the first in our party to arrive at the restaurant, i chose the table at which we sat.

i think that's a pretty decent overview -- if you have other questions, please ask.

[christina.susie.wong]

Along with this question below are examples where I thought starting the sentence with it creates an ambiguous pronoun error. Can you tell me why these sentences are not creating an ambiguous pronoun problem? Can you give example sentences starting with it that is wrong so i can understand the differences?

--Long before it was fashionalbe to be an expatriate, Joe made Paris her home, and she remained in France during the Wwar as a performer. (I thought what is "it" and eliminated)
--It can hardly be said that educators are at fault for not anticipating the impact of the microcomputer technology: Alvin Toffler did not even mention microcomputers in his book. (I thought what is "it" and eliminated it)
--In her book illustrations, which she carefully coordinated with her narratives, Beatrix capitalized on her keen observations... (I thought who is "her" and eliminated it)