not only...but also

[blacknomi]

1) Success not only depends on talent but also on effort.
2) Succcess depends not only on talent but also on effort.

We have to put preposition phrase after 'not only' if thre's any. In addition, either preposition that follows 'not only' and 'but also' cannot be omitted. Am I wrong?

 

[Casiopea]

1) Success not only depends on talent but also on effort.
2) Succcess depends not only on talent but also on effort.

We have to put preposition phrase after 'not only' if thre's any. In addition, either preposition that follows 'not only' and 'but also' cannot be omitted. Am I wrong?

not only...but also is a correlative conjunction. It joins words, phases, or clauses of equal rank.

Verb phrases
Success not only depends on talent, but also requires initiative.

Prepositional phrases
Success depends not only on talent, but also on effort.

Noun phrases
Not only milk, but also bread.

Clauses
Not only does he do his best, but also he does it correctly.

 

[blacknomi]

Ah! It's super clear!
Thanks for making my days brighter!

 

[Casiopea]

Ah! It's super clear!
Thanks for making my days brighter!

You are welcome.

By the way, speakers often

1. omit (...) 'also':

Not only that, but (also) this.

2. omitted 'but':

Not only did he do that, (but) he also did this.

3. separate 'but' and 'also':

Not only did he do that, but he also did this.

 

[blacknomi]

If I were a student of yours in Japan, that would be fatastic! :wink:

 

[Joe]

Success not only depends on talent, but also requires initiative.

Cas, what exactly is "initiative" in a sentence like "success requires initiative"? The ability to decide what to do? I don't quite get the long explanation in the dictionary.

 

[Casiopea]

Success not only depends on talent, but also requires initiative.

Cas, what exactly is "initiative" in a sentence like "success requires initiative"? The ability to decide what to do? I don't quite get the long explanation in the dictionary.

The ability to do/start something on your own. :wink: That is, no one tells you what to do or how to do something. You see a situation and decide on your own how to act. Management (i.e., supervisors, managers, bosses) usually has initiative. In North America, companies tend to hire people with initiative/who have initiative.

 

[Casiopea]

If I were a student of yours in Japan, that would be fatastic! :wink:

Thanks/Thanx

Where are your students from?

 

[Casiopea]

Success not only depends on talent, but also requires initiative.

Cas, what exactly is "initiative" in a sentence like "success requires initiative"? The ability to decide what to do? I don't quite get the long explanation in the dictionary.

Joe, , in your Location's field is states:

Where everything is all "people's"

Which of the two, A or B, does it mean? :?

A. Where everything belongs to the people.
B. Where everywhere you look there are people.

 

[Joe]

Joe, , in your Location's field is states:

Where everything is all "people's"

Which of the two, A or B, does it mean? :?

A. Where everything belongs to the people.
B. Where everywhere you look there are people.

Cas, I meant "A", literally. I have no idea how it appeared to a native speaker that I might be suggesting "B".

We have almost everything labelled "people's", like "people's republic", "people's army", "people's court", etc. However, they are ignoring one simple fact: the more whatever you get, the more it gets unworthy.

 

[blacknomi]

If I were a student of yours in Japan, that would be fatastic! :wink:

Thanks/Thanx

Where are your students from?

From all walks of life.
From stinky kids to gray power.
Most of them are Taiwanese(Chinese, no political issue involved.) I've had several Korean and Japanese before. And I do find similiar pattern of learning English between them.

 

[Casiopea]

If I were a student of yours in Japan, that would be fatastic! :wink:

Thanks/Thanx

Where are your students from?

From all walks of life.
From stinky kids to gray power.
Most of them are Taiwanese(Chinese, no political issue involved.) I've had several Korean and Japanese before. And I do find similiar pattern of learning English between them.

I've also taught those groups. I'm curious as to the 'patterns of learning' you've notice. Do tell.

 

[blacknomi]

1) Success not only depends on talent but also on effort.
2) Succcess depends not only on talent but also on effort.

We have to put preposition phrase after 'not only' if thre's any. In addition, either preposition that follows 'not only' and 'but also' cannot be omitted. Am I wrong?

not only...but also is a correlative conjunction. It joins words, phases, or clauses of equal rank.

Verb phrases
Success not only depends on talent, but also requires initiative.

Prepositional phrases
Success depends not only on talent, but also on effort.

Noun phrases
Not only milk, but also bread.

Clauses
Not only does he do his best, but also he does it correctly.

From Michael Swan

Mid-position with the verb is also possible. In this case, not only is generally used without do.
She not only plays the piano, but also violin.

1. I don't know what is mid-position. I need you badly.
2. She not only plays the piano, but also violin. Unequal rank. :?

 

[Casiopea]

From Michael Swan

Mid-position with the verb is also possible. In this case, not only is generally used without do.
She not only plays the piano, but also violin.

1. I don't know what is mid-position. I need you badly.
2. She not only plays the piano, but also violin. Unequal rank. :?

Mid-sentence. :wink: "Not only..., but also" generally tends to occur sentence-intially. Swan points out that it can occur sentence-medially: in the middle of a sentence, in mid-position. :wink:

 

[blacknomi]

From Michael Swan

Mid-position with the verb is also possible. In this case, not only is generally used without do.
She not only plays the piano, but also violin.

1. I don't know what is mid-position. I need you badly.
2. She not only plays the piano, but also violin. Unequal rank. :?

Mid-sentence. :wink: "Not only..., but also" generally tends to occur sentence-intially. Swan points out that it can occur sentence-medially: in the middle of a sentence, in mid-position. :wink:

She not only plays the piano, but also violin.
Success not only depends on talent but also on effort.

You have mentioned it before that not only...but also... is a correlative conjunt that requires equal grammatical category. Remember? So how about those sentences listed above? :roll:

 

[Casiopea]

She not only plays the piano, but also violin.
Success not only depends on talent but also on effort.

You mentioned before that not only...but also... is a correlative conjunction that requires equal grammatical category. Remember? So how about those sentences listed above? :roll:

Good question. :up

1. Verb phrase + Verb phrase
plays the piano + (plays) the violin
=> The word (play) has been omitted. The reason being, redundancy.

The same distribution holds true for 2.

2. Verb phrase + Verb Phrase
depends on talent + (depends) on effort
=> The word (depends) has been omitted. :wink:

 

[Francois]

I would say "she not only plays the piano, but also the violin".

FRC

 

[blacknomi]

Redundancy! Sigh, I should have know that.

 

[Casiopea]

I would say "she not only plays the piano, but also the violin".

FRC

Good catch. 8)

 

[blacknomi]

2. omitted 'but':
Not only did he do that, (but) he also did this.

I omit also.
Not only did he do that, but he did this. :?: