as well as/not only but also

[blacknomi]

She not only sings songs but also plays the piano. (correct)
She plays the piano as well as sing songs.(correct)
She plays the piano as well as sings songs. (incorrect)
She plays the piano as well as singing songs. :?:


Is there any grammatical mistake here?



Thank you in advance. Have a nice weekend. :lol:

 

[Mister Micawber]

Yes. Here are the corrected sentences:

She not only sings songs but also plays the piano.
She plays the piano as well as sings songs.
She plays the piano as well as sings songs.
She plays the piano as well as singing songs.

 

[Steven D]

She plays the piano as well as singing songs. <<

You are correct to have a question mark next to this sentence.

It's an odd form. I doubt anyone would say it, and something like this would not be used in writing. That's for sure.

She plays the piano as well as sings songs. - generally speaking

right now - She's playing the piano, and she's singing as well.

Really? I didn't know she sang.

Or is it: Really? I didn't know she sings.

 

[Steven D]

She plays the piano as well as singing songs.


Is there any grammatical mistake here? <<


There isn't really any grammatical error there. However, the lack of parallel structure makes the sentence sound very unusual and awkward.

In a sentence like that we should either use the simple present or the present progressive. I wouldn't mix them.

1. She plays the piano as well as sings songs.

2. She plays the piano, and she sings too.

I like the second one better. It sounds more natural to me.

or: She plays the piano and she sings as well.


or: She plays the piano and sings.

She sings and plays the piano.


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.

:shock: :?: :idea:

 

[Mister Micawber]

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').

In the your sentence, 'as well as' means 'in addition to', and can perfectly well accept the '-ing' form. As Swan observes, 'when we put a verb after as well as, we often use the -ing form.' It is a method of subordinating 'sing' to 'play'.

I agree that 'songs' is somewhat redundant.

 

[blacknomi]

She plays the piano as well as sings songs. - generally speaking

right now - She's playing the piano, and she's singing as well.

Really? I didn't know she sang.

Or is it: Really? I didn't know she sings.

Did you focus more on her ability of singing? I think it emphasizes on her ability of playing certain musical intrument. That's why I said "She not only sings but also plays the piano."


She not only [Old Information] but also [New Information]
She [New Information] as well as [Old Information]


For example, I focus more on 'he', the new or important information.
He as well as I has to obey the rule.

Any comment?

 

[blacknomi]

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.

:shock: :?: :idea:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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.


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.

 

[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').

In the your sentence, 'as well as' means 'in addition to', and can perfectly well accept the '-ing' form. As Swan observes, 'when we put a verb after as well as, we often use the -ing form.' It is a method of subordinating 'sing' to 'play'.

I agree that 'songs' is somewhat redundant.

Hi, MM,

One of my friend said,

"Because it sounds weird to have a verb being used with a gerund like that.it's just a rule of what sounds right in English.If you're gonna use a gerund, you should use one for both forms...For example,his piano playing is as good as his singing. Mmmmmmm well, I just know it sounds really weird to me.That's not to say it's wrong, I guess, since I'm not writing any grammar books, but it sounds bizarre to me."


I agreed with what he and you(or Swan) said. Using the gerund form could be merely to concord with the grammatical rules. But like X Mode pointed out, one( I mean a native speaker) would probably rarely or seldom say that. It does bother a learner when the rule is right in the book while the native speaker doesn't think it sounds so right in real life. Then we have accept it as it is. So would someone tell me what the accuracy is?! :shock: 8)

 

[Mister Micawber]

I don't like repeating advice, but I shall this time: the form,'she plays the piano as well as singing songs' is good English by the grammar book, it is of common usage, and it is used by me, an educated native speaker.

If you don't like the form, do not use it. If it sounds strange to you, I will ask if you are a native speaker?

 

[blacknomi]

I see your point.

 

[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.


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.

:shock: :?: :idea:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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.


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.