Is it more accurate to start a sentence with an year or to end it with an year?
So which out of the given sentences is more accurate:-
- In 1965 the 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy.
Or
- The 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy in 1965.
Thank you
In the first example, you have moved a prepositional phrase ("in 1965") to the beginning of the sentence. This is common and completely acceptable in English. Which one you should choose depends mainly on the context surrounding the sentence.
Here is an example where I would recommend the first version:
In 1965 the 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy. By 1967, it had become the best-selling toy of all time.
And here is an example where I would recommend the second version:
The 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy in 1965. Its low price and high versatility made it an instant hit.
Even though both examples communicate similar ideas, the first focuses on a sequence of chronological events while the second focuses on the qualities of the toy itself.
I initially thought that you were wrong to omit a comma after the prepositional phrase. In other words, I thought it should have been:
In 1965, the 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy.
But a little bit of research revealed that the rules for using commas this way are flexible. According to one guideline I found, you only need a comma if the phrase is four or more words long.
If you added more words, like in the following example, a comma would be required or highly recommended, depending on whom you ask.
In the summer of 1965, the 'Snurfer' was developed as a child's toy.
The second option. The first is talking about the year, like in a listing of how this Snurfer was developed in chronological order. In the second one, more like talking about the Snurfer and the year is not stressed out that much as in the first.
Either version is correct but if you want to emphasize a date then a date must appear first and if the snuffer toy then it must appear first.
