word order - Using 'for' as a coordinating conjunction at sentence beginning


As I understand it, 'for' is a coordinating conjunction. Learning German as a second language has taught me specifics about reforming sentences, but it is an awful lot less common in English. If I were to rearrange the sentence: "I ate lunch, for I was hungry," so that 'for' was the first word of the sentence, by my reckoning I should end up with "For that I was hungry, I ate lunch." Does this new sentence have any grammatical errors? I inserted the word 'that' after 'for', because without it the sentence didn't sound right. Should I have? Is there a rule for that? Thank you in advance, an aspiring author.


Additional Information: I am not having problems with the sentence, this is a general question to increase my knowledge of the manipulations of coordinating conjuntions.



Answer



You are right that for is a coordinating conjunction, the first of the so-called FANBOYS. But you cannot move a coordinated clause (starting with a FANBOY) to the front of a sentence:



I was hungry, so I ate.


*So I ate, I was hungry.



It is the same in German:



Ich habe gegessen, denn ich hatte Hunger.


*Denn ich Hunger hatte, habe ich gegessen.



However, you can move a clause with a subordinating conjunction to the front:



Because I was hungry, I ate.


Da ich Hunger hatte, habe ich gegessen.



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