Dash, comma or colon?

[yoyo123]

What's wrong with starting a sentence with 'however'?

I was taught that it was a conjunction and therefore could not be used to start a sentence. I'm not saying I was taught correctly, but that was what i was taught.

[Belinda]

.

[moved]

When looking through the Oxford University Press guide to grammar a colon seems to be correct under the third use listed below. If I read the comma list then perhaps also the third use.

From the Oxford University Press Grammar regarding colon use:

Grammar
A punctuation mark with three main uses:

1) to introduce a list:There are two other varieties of cedarwood oil: Texas (Juniperus ashei) and Virginian (juniperus virginiana).
2) to introduce a piece of direct speech, or a quotation:At once he said: ‘I do not mean your immediate brief journey.’
3) to separate two parts of a sentence where the first leads on to the second:And that is the end of the poor man's hopes: there is no return to eligibility.

Their guide for the use of a comma

Grammar
This punctuation mark has the following uses:

1) to separate the items in a list:... tens of thousands of them: Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs.
2) to place a section of a sentence in parenthesis (as brackets do):Bill the dog , happy as ever to be out and about, was sniffing everything in sight.
3) to mark the divisions between the clauses in a complex sentence:These weedkillers may, if used on new lawns, damage young seedling grasses before they are well established.
4) to separate sections of a sentence to make it easier to read:To make a hot compress, pour hot water into a bowl and then add the essential oil.
5) to introduce and/or end a piece of direct speech:‘No, sir,’ said Stephen, ‘and that is what is so curious.’

Again from Oxford

Dashes are especially common in informal writing, such as personal emails or blogs, but it’s best to use them sparingly when you are writing formally.

I feel that the answer sheet is incorrect as there should be a suitable alternative to a dash.

[Belinda]

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[doodles]

I would take the comma option. I was always taught that the text in commas can be taken out of the sentence without changing the meaning of said sentence. In this case it can.

A dash seems to be the lazy option. Though I am very guilty of using in typed text I would never use them in a written piece or letter.

Mind you, as I was at school about two thousand years ago, all the rules have probably changed

[Manana]

I was always taught that the text in commas can be taken out of the sentence without changing the meaning of said sentence. In this case it can.

Yes, but this is only applicable when there is text between two commas, surely?

eg The boy, whose legs were incredibly long, could not reach the tall shelf.

The sentence in the first instance is different.

[doodles]

Yes, but you could lose the piece after the comma and not change the sense of the sentence.

[yoyo123]

It's all very confusing. And, I was taught you should never start a sentence with and...

The thing is that some of the very best, gripping writing is not grammatically correct ,but boy is it expressive!

[muffinmonster]

Yes, but you could lose the piece after the comma and not change the sense of the sentence.

Not quite the same thing. The rule you are talking about applies to 'parenthetical commas', where you can remove the commas and the text between them and still have a grammatically complete sentence, as in Teachermum's example. (The boy, whose legs were incredibly long, could not reach the tall shelf.)

Incidentally, the only 'correct' use of dashes is - as with commas - parenthetical. Or so I have been told.

This question is bugging me and I have been thinking about it ever since it was posted. I am still convinced that the semicolon is correct because my instincts tell me that 'Not so the cat' is in fact a complete sentence. I realise that it lacks a verb, and that unless I can parse it I won't convince anyone else. My research continues....

[moved]

I resorted to asking my mother.

Sad as I'm the tutor/teacher/exam writer!

Her reply
Definitely not a semicolon as no verb in the second half. Either a comma or a colon could also be used.

She was horrified by the idea of a dash (far too modern)!