Can you start a written English sentence with “but”? There’s a lot of debate about this. But – as a journalist who has written numerous articles for British publications – my answer is yes. You can! (See what I did there?) There’s absolutely no grammatical reason not to. In fact, it can be really effective, making clear a contrast, as in the example below: "I used to love shopping. When I ran my own business, I earned a lot of money and I’d think nothing of spending £500 on clothes in a single afternoon. But as time wore on, my attitude changed." Just be careful about doing it in formal reports or essays as some people still don't like it. And in case you were wondering, you can also start a sentence with “and”!