Learn English – Start a sentence with “Just that”

conversational-deletionword-choice

Can I start a sentence with "Just that", like:

It tastes good. (it's) just that it's too expensive.

Can I drop the "it's" at the start? If not, what's a good substitute that sounds casual and friendly? "Although" and "However" sound too formal in my opinion. Or are they?

Best Answer

It's fine. Some linguists refer to this kind of omission as a conversational deletion.

Conversational deletion is the tendency to omit portions of a sentence, usually the subject, when those portions refer to people, places, or things deemed obvious or implied in the conversation. —tag info for conversational deletion.

The conversational deletion is very common and perfectly idiomatic in speech. It's not likely to run afoul of any rule in informal situations.

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