Q. What’s the preferred way to use the word “however” when it compares two sentences? I was edited consistently by one editor to move it to the front of the sentence. In the following example, is it better for “however” to start the second sentence, or is it fine as is? Example: Some have used the commandment translated in the King James Version of the Bible “Thou shalt not kill” as a prohibition of capital punishment. The commandment, however, refers to murder and is accurately translated “You shall not murder” in modern translations.
A. An old rule that has pretty much faded into oblivion is that at the beginning of a sentence one should use “however” not as a conjunction, but only as an adverb: “However old I get, I’ll never give up bobsledding.” Your usage is correct, so it would be perverse of your editor to move it to the beginning of the sentence, which would offend the ears of some readers.