Learn English – begin a sentence with, “Unless, that is ….”

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Given a rather long sentence that finishes with something like:

... and therefore, you need not submit that form.

Is it allowable to start the next sentence with, "Unless, that is, you …..", or will this need to be appended to the line after a comma? The reason why I would prefer to start a new sentence is that the first sentence already is rather long and contains several clauses and conjunctions.

Best Answer

Because your theoretical sentence is a dependent (or subordinate) clause, the answer is no. However, as with many grammatical rules, if the context in which you are writing is informal (e.g., fiction), then it is perfectly fine and subject to your discretion; if the context is formal, you should more than likely not use a dependent clause as a standalone sentence.

If you think there are too many commas in your sentence, I would suggest prefacing your clause with an em dash (—). It would serve well to emphasize your contrasting clause without cluttering the sentence with commas.

I suggest reading this if you are still confused.

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