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Youngbuts Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
but not when vs but when
Hello, everyone.
I'm getting to be confused about the following problem.
He usually eats sweets but not when someone is looking.
He usually eats sweets but when someone is looking.
I wonder whether the both sentences above are OK or the second one sounds unnatural.
I heard the first one is ok and I have seen many in natives' writing. But the second one, in which I intentionally omitted 'not' after 'but', seems to be rarely seen to me. However, as a non-native I have got a thought that if 'but' could be considered as a prepostion, the second one also could be possible. Could I use the second pattern?
Thanks a million in advance
I'm getting to be confused about the following problem.
He usually eats sweets but not when someone is looking.
He usually eats sweets but when someone is looking.
I wonder whether the both sentences above are OK or the second one sounds unnatural.
I heard the first one is ok and I have seen many in natives' writing. But the second one, in which I intentionally omitted 'not' after 'but', seems to be rarely seen to me. However, as a non-native I have got a thought that if 'but' could be considered as a prepostion, the second one also could be possible. Could I use the second pattern?
Thanks a million in advance
Top answer
youngbuts I wonder whether the both sentences above are OK or the second one sounds unnatural. Are they meant to mean the opposite of each other?
- youngbuts I wonder whether the both sentences above are OK or the second one sounds unnatural.
- Are they meant to mean the opposite of each other?
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3 Answers
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youngbutsI wonder whether the both sentences above are OK or the second one sounds unnatural.Are they meant to mean the opposite of each other?
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Hello, Mister Micawber.
No. though I was not sure, I wished they could be the same because to me the second one seemed more easy to understand. Are they the opposite of each other in meaning?
And could you teach me wheahter the second sentence is unnatural English, though it could have a meaning.? When I write something in English, I have to think something in my first language and
No. though I was not sure, I wished they could be the same because to me the second one seemed more easy to understand. Are they the opposite of each other in meaning?
And could you teach me wheahter the second sentence is unnatural English, though it could have a meaning.? When I write something in English, I have to think something in my first language and
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To me, the second one is trying to state the opposite of the first, but it is ambiguous (or actually almost uninterpretable) because it needs a clarifying adverb:
He usually eats sweets but not when someone is looking.
He usually eats sweets but only when someone is looking.
But is not a preposition; it is a conjunction.
He usually eats sweets but not when someone is looking.
He usually eats sweets but only when someone is looking.
But is not a preposition; it is a conjunction.
youngbuts
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