as well as/not only but also

[blacknomi]

There is nothing substandard, odd or uncommon about 'She plays the piano as well as singing songs.' It is not a comparison requiring parallel structure (which would be of the form 'she plays the piano as well as she sings songs').

One more question,

"She not only sings but she also plays." In this sentence, the same subject 'she' following 'but' can be omitted as in "She not only sings but also plays." Right? The reason is that to avoid redundancy.


Okay, one might ask,
"Teacher, can I omit the second 'she' in ''she plays the piano as well as she sings songs'? Can I say 'she plays the piano as well as sings songs" without a change in meaning? As far as I know, the meaning changes. So I'd say it's not appropriate to omit the second subject even if they are the same personal reference, if one wants to maintain the meaning of the original sentence.

Any comments?

[Mister Micawber]

That's right.

"She not only sings but she also plays."
"She not only sings but also plays."

These carry the same meaning (with the 'play' as new, stressed information): she does both. The second 'she' is OK and common, but not necessary, as it is redundant.


''She plays the piano as well as she sings."
"She plays the piano as well as sings."

These are different in meaning. The first tells us that she has equal skills in both; the second merely tells us she does both (again with 'play' as new, stressed information). In this pair of sentences, the second 'she' is critical to meaning.

[blacknomi]

Thank you. I understand. :D


What about?

''She plays the piano as well as she sings."
"She plays the piano as well as sings."

"She can play the piano as well as she can sing."
"She can play the piano as well as sing/sings/singing."

I try to insert an auxiliary 'can' before the main verb. How does an auxiliary influence the second verb?

[Mister Micawber]

"She can play the piano as well as she can sing."
"She can play the piano as well as sing."

'How does an auxiliary influence the second verb?'

An interesting question. Now I do not like the 'singing' very much in the second sentence (and the 'sings' is not right)-- presumably because of the stronger influence of the modal. Compare:

"She could play the piano as well as sing." = 'in the past she was able to do both' ('she could play and could sing') OR 'she will certainly sing and possibly also play the piano (at the concert tomorrow)'.

"She could play the piano as well as singing." = ONLY 'she will certainly sing and possibly also play the piano (at the concert tomorrow)'.

The reason that I find 'singing' awkward in your second sentence is that we do not so often use 'can' in the sense of future possibility, I suppose, and I therefore assume the alternative meaning ('she can play and she can sing'), making 'singing' seem wrong.

[Steven D]

I have a question if you don't mind. What would she sing besides songs?

I'm not sure whether this is one of those things I woudn't say or not. I might just say "She sings." Of course, she sings songs. What kind of songs? She sings songs that _______________ . She sings ______________ songs.

:D :D

She sings songs that reminds me of breaking up with Overdoze 7 years ago. She sings sad-love song.

Blacknomi has been singing praises of teachers and experts at UE. :D


Why wouldn't you say so?
I sang a lot of songs last night! I was on cloud nine.
I only sang one song last night! They wouldn't let me sing because they were afraid of the shattering of glass. :)

It's okay when we talk about "how many songs". Then it's not redundant.

She sings songs. - That's fine. I just don't think it would often be spoken. We would have to talk about what type of songs or how many songs.

She likes to sing songs. - That's okay too. I would most likely say, "She likes to sing."

She likes to sing songs by _______________ .

She likes to sing _____________ songs.

[Steven D]

She likes to sing a lot.

She likes to sing a lot of songs.

Really? Which ones?

[blacknomi]

"She could play the piano as well as sing." = 'in the past she was able to do both' ('she could play and could sing') OR 'she will certainly sing and possibly also play the piano (at the concert tomorrow)'.

"She could play the piano as well as singing." = ONLY 'she will certainly sing and possibly also play the piano (at the concert tomorrow)'.

Good explanation. I see what your point. Thank you, MM. :D