[Grammar] AmI right to hate "Not only, ... but also"?

[Angry Editor]

I edit a lot of English written by Chinese people, and often come across sentences like:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, but also benefits students.

[This is only a silly example, so please ignore whatever else might be wrong with it. In fact, this example does not upset me as much as others, i just can't think of anything better/worse.]

I believe it is a direct translation of 不光，... 而且...。

What I am asking about is whether the "but also" is the best way to start the next part of the sentence.

Personally, I think this sounds better:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, it benefits students.

Do people agree with me? Is there something wrong with the use of "Not only... but also"? Is there a place for "Not only, ... but also"?

Also, I am British, could this be a British/American English thing?

 

[bhaisahab]

I edit a lot of English written by Chinese people, and often come across sentences like:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, but also benefits students.

[This is only a silly example, so please ignore whatever else might be wrong with it. In fact, this example does not upset me as much as others, i just can't think of anything better/worse.]

I believe it is a direct translation of 不光，... 而且...。

What I am asking about is whether the "but also" is the best way to start the next part of the sentence.

Personally, I think this sounds better:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, it benefits students.

Do people agree with me? Is there something wrong with the use of "Not only... but also"? Is there a place for "Not only, ... but also"?

Also, I am British, could this be a British/American English thing?

How would you rephrase "Not only Peter Cook, but also Dudley Moore", for example?

 

[Abstract Idea]

I edit a lot of English written by Chinese people, and often come across sentences like:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, but also benefits students.

[This is only a silly example, so please ignore whatever else might be wrong with it. In fact, this example does not upset me as much as others, i just can't think of anything better/worse.]

I believe it is a direct translation of 不光，... 而且...。

What I am asking about is whether the "but also" is the best way to start the next part of the sentence.

Personally, I think this sounds better:

UsingEnglish.com not only helps teachers, it benefits students.

Do people agree with me? Is there something wrong with the use of "Not only... but also"? Is there a place for "Not only, ... but also"?

Also, I am British, could this be a British/American English thing?

Just try to avoid excessive repetition. Since this is a correct usage of the English language only an immoderate repetition of it throughout the text would annoy the readers.

Not a native speaker

 

[Tdol]

I think one problem may be the overuse of certain forms, which often comes from the seeming obsession some exams have with connectors. How often, say, do you use furthermore/moreover? Idon't use them as much as many learners. Not only/but also overuse may be more common amongst Chinese learners, I really couldn't say, but it is not confined to them by any means.

Sadly for you, as we move towards computer-graded writing, this is likely to increase not decrease.