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Park sang joon Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
A pseudo-relative pronoun 'but'
1) There was not a line in her countenance, not a note in her soft and sleepy voice, but spoke of an entire contentment with her life.
I think the clause "There was not a line in her countenance, not a note in her soft and sleepy voice," is the independent clause and the word 'but' is pseudo-relative pronoun; if so, is the following sentence right?:
2) There was not a line in her countenance or a note in her soft and sleepy voice but spoke of an entire contentment with her life.
In the #1, why are commas used?
Thank you in advance for your help.
I think the clause "There was not a line in her countenance, not a note in her soft and sleepy voice," is the independent clause and the word 'but' is pseudo-relative pronoun; if so, is the following sentence right?:
2) There was not a line in her countenance or a note in her soft and sleepy voice but spoke of an entire contentment with her life.
In the #1, why are commas used?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Top answer
"But" is a conjunction. r=66 It is a very old-fashioned writing style. It sounds Victorian to me.
- "But" is a conjunction.
- r=66 It is a very old-fashioned writing style.
- It sounds Victorian to me.
- In the 1800s, authors wrote in a different style than today's authors do.
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4 Answers
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"But" is a conjunction. See definition #6: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/But?r=66
It is a very old-fashioned writing style. It sounds Victorian to me. In the 1800s, authors wrote in a different style than today's authors do.
It is a very old-fashioned writing style. It sounds Victorian to me. In the 1800s, authors wrote in a different style than today's authors do.
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Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your sincere help.
In the page you have linked, #6 mean "that~not" and as you have said, 'but' is conjunction but in my example, the but clause have a subject missing so, I think 'but' is A pseudo-relative pronoun; What do you think about that?
In the page you have linked, #6 mean "that~not" and as you have said, 'but' is conjunction but in my example, the but clause have a subject missing so, I think 'but' is A pseudo-relative pronoun; What do you think about that?
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park sang joonI think the clause "There was not a line in her countenance, not a note in her soft and sleepy voice," is the independent clauseCorrect. "and" is omitted, but it is understood. ... not a line ... and not a note .... Or, as you wrote it later in your post, ... not a line ... or a note ..., which is the logical equivalent.
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Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your concrete answer.
I have never heard it called a pseudo-relative pronoun.
The term is used in only Korea or in Eastern nations, but I thought it could make sense for you.
If not, I'm sorry.
Your accounts are very helpful for me; now I see completely the parts of not knowing.
I have never heard it called a pseudo-relative pronoun.
The term is used in only Korea or in Eastern nations, but I thought it could make sense for you.
If not, I'm sorry.
Your accounts are very helpful for me; now I see completely the parts of not knowing.
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