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Not Only... But Also... (Structure)

The structure 'NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO...' is used to present two related pieces of information, where the second is considered even more surprising. It should be used with parallel grammatical structures after 'not only' and 'but also'. Not only can it be used in the middle of a sentence, but beginning a clause with 'Not only' requires inverting the subject and verb.

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54 views

Not Only... But Also... (Structure)

The structure 'NOT ONLY...BUT ALSO...' is used to present two related pieces of information, where the second is considered even more surprising. It should be used with parallel grammatical structures after 'not only' and 'but also'. Not only can it be used in the middle of a sentence, but beginning a clause with 'Not only' requires inverting the subject and verb.

Uploaded by

anestesista
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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not only … but also…

aprendeinglesenleganes.com
The structure “NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO...” is used in formal contexts to present two related pieces of
information. Both pieces of information are presented as surprising or unexpected. The second one
is considered even more surprising than the first.
When using “NOT ONLY … BUT ALSO...” we need to make sure that the words following both parts
of this correlative conjunction (i.e., not only and but also) belong to the same parts of speech. For
example, if a verb follows not only, then a verb should also follow but also.
That is what we call parallelism.

She is not only beautiful but also Intelligent.


He is not only rich but also famous.

She speaks English not only fluently but also naturally.


Jack works not only quickly but also efficiently.

He speaks not only English but also Spanish.


He ate not only pizza but also burgers.

He not only ate the pizza but also drank the coke.
This car not only is economical but also feels good to drive.

To add emphasis, we can use not only at the beginning of a clause.


When we do this, we invert the subject and the verb.
Verb be :
 Not only was it raining all day at the wedding but also the band was late.
 Not only is he handsome but (he is) also intelligent.
Auxiliary Verbs (do/will/would/could/can...) :
 Not only will they paint the outside of the house but also the inside.
When there is no auxiliary verb or main verb be, we use do, does, did:
 Not only did she forget my birthday, but she also didn’t even apologise for forgetting it.
 Not only does he speak English but (he) also (speaks) Spanish.

NOTE: A double negative is considered an error – a negative form after NOT ONLY sounds
very unnatural.
 Not only did she not have any experience but she also did not have relevant education
It’s better to rephrase:
 Not only was she lacking in experience but also in relevant education

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