[Grammar] not only...but (also)

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LaMelange

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Hello teachers,

Greetings!

I am having some questions regarding the use of the correlative conjunction not only...but also.

1. In sentences with the correlative conjunction not onlybut also, some authors use not only…but (without also). Should we absolutely insert also in all such sentences?

For example, do the following sentences need also after the word but?

· In this section, I show how these traces of violence are related not only to the culture of fear but to the performative effects of the memory of the opposition to the regime.
· They have the support not only of Florence but of an entire group.


Also, sometimes I come across sentences with just but also without not only. Here is an example:

As such, the very term used to emphasize the primary importance of an inclusive community in post-apartheid South Africa is rendered archaic, but also turned into a shibboleth that supposedly protects this community from “outsiders.”

2. Is this sentence correct? If not, would the following correction be OK?

As such, the very term used to emphasize the primary importance of an inclusive community in post-apartheid South Africa not only is rendered archaic, but also has turned into a shibboleth that supposedly protects this community from “outsiders.”

As always, thank you very much for your patience.

PS: The sentences are from the chapters I have been working on recently (from a book in the manuscript stage).
 

Barb_D

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You will get different answers, but I feel that "not only" needs a "but also."

not only to the culture of fear but also the --what are "performative effects"??

the support of not only Florence but also an entire group. -- move the "of" before "not only."

Do you mean "the term that people use to emphasize" or "the term that was once used to emphasize"? I'm having trouble parsing that sentence.
 

Raymott

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In my opinion, 'also' should be included in the first sentence. But you'll see this occasionally. It's understandable.
In the second, there isn't a problem. It just doesn't use "Not only ... but also".
"She is very active, but also a little careless." The reason for the use of "but also" is that it modifies the information that she's very active (a good thing), by adding that with this comes some carelessness (a bad thing).
 

GoesStation

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Not only... must be followed by but also in your first two sentences. Your author has forgotten that they wrote only rather than just at the beginning.

The sentence about post-apartheid South Africa should not have but also where it appears. I'm not sure how I'd correct it. Your version retains the author's style, which I'd call inelegant at best. As an editor, your job may be to make the minimum of changes required to remove glaring flaws; if so, I'd say you've done OK.
 

jutfrank

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Use:
not...but...
or
not only...but also...
 

LaMelange

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Hello teachers,

Here are two other sentences:

1. It should be noted that the fact that peace is in the interest of almost everyone is not only a source of its value, it is also the reason why realizing peace seems relatively feasible.

2. Gray not only thinks that group-sensitive policies are sometimes part of a well-working modus vivendi in pluralist societies, he also thinks that significant constraints on liberty rights, for example, freedom of the press, could be part of a workable modus vivendi.


I think these sentences are OK as they are. Or should the word but be introduced just to make the sentences conform to the not only…but also construction?

Thank you.
 
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