Not A but B

Question

1) I am not a student but a teacher.2) I am a teacher, and not a student.3) I am a teacher, not a student.I know the above sentences have all the same meaning.Then, I'd like to know the following has the same meaning with the above sentences.: I am a teacher, but not a student.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

park sang joonThen, I'd like to know the following has the same meaning with the above sentences.: I am a teacher, but not a student.

I think you ask the wrong question. The question should be, "How is this different from the others?"

"But" means that you are showing a contrast, eg.

I am a teacher, but not a very good one. I need more experience to develop my teaching skills.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your valuable answer.
I think #1,#2, and #3 mean the following.
: I am not a student and I am a teacher.
We call this structure "Not A But B."

But I don't know whether or not #4 is the kind of "Not A But B."

I think you ask the wrong question. The question should be, "How is this different from the others?"

"But" means that you are showing a contrast, eg.

Then, Could I interpret #4 to the following?
: I am not a student but I am a teacher.

If so, I think after all that #4 has a similar meaning to #1, #2, or #3.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

park sang joonIf so, I think after all that #4 has a similar meaning to #1, #2, or #3.

I suppose, but no native English speaker (at least an educated one) would use that form in the way you suggest. There are many alternatives, as you have listed.
Why do you want to learn sentences that you will have to unlearn later, because they are not the way of native speakers?

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your opinion and valuable answer.

This started all from the following sentences.

The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but not necessarily one that occurs at the same time. For example, "and talking to" might mean "and then talking to".

I thought "but" clause was an equal relation with the main clause, not "that" clause.
But GPY said "If I understand the question correctly, I don't agree. 'but not necessarily ...' is subservient to 'that'.

So I wanted to assure myself of grounds of GPY's answer.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

park sang joonI thought "but" clause was an equal relation with the main clause, not "that" clause

You need to learn the difference between coordinating conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions.
Coordinating conjunctions (the FANBOYS) connect equals; subordinating conjunctions connect unequal syntactic units.

Syntactic equality does not imply simultaneity:
I jumped and ran and hopped and skipped. (It does not mean that you did all these things at the same time, because it is impossible to do this. However, a writer would naturally express the actions in the order in which they were performed.)

He walked and noisily chewed his gum. (These usually can be done at the same time, so the reader would assume simultaneity.)

He was walking and was talking on his cell phone, and he was not looking where he was going.
He was walking and talking on his cell phone, not looking where he was going.
(These are commonly done at the same time, and the "not looking" gives additional meaning that the actions were all performed at the same time.)

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your elaborate examples and very helpful link.

I have just read all the text of the page you have linked.
I am going to look into the other pages on the site because It's very of use for me.

Going back to my question, when I connect a new clause with a main clause which have a subordinate clause, can I make a pronoun in the new clause indicate a noun in a clause subordinate to the main clause?

For example, supposing the main clause connects with "but" clause, can one indicate "action"?

The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but not necessarily one that occurs at the same time.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Going back to my question, when I connect a new clause with a main clause which has a subordinate clause, can I make a pronoun in the new clause indicate a noun in a clause subordinate to the main clause?

Yes. The only stipulation is that a pronoun's antecedent must be clear to the reader. It does not matter if the antecedent is in the previous sentence, clause, or paragraph.

In your example, you have the noun "action" and two occurrences of the pronoun "one" which refer to it.
The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but not necessarily one that occurs at the same time.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your continuing support and proofreading.
<Source>
The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but not necessarily one that occurs at the same time.
<My interpretation>
The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but the use of "and" in a participle phrase does not necessarily emphasizes one that occurs at the same time.
<GPY's interpretation>
The use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but that the action is not necessarily one that occurs at the same time.

Then, Why do you think my interpretation is impossible?

AlpheccaStars · Answer

park sang joonThe use of "and" in a participle phrase emphasizes that the action is an additional one, but not necessarily one that occurs at the same time.

Where did the "source" come from?
I think the verb "emphasize" is not really appropriate for expressing the conjunctive properties of "and." "And" just connects syntactic units on an equal basis. Those units can be nouns, adjectives, clauses, participles, prepositional phrases, etc. One is not emphasized with respect to the other. They are just joined, linked or connected with each other.

The order of the units, as I tried to explain earlier, is sometimes semantically important, and sometimes not.
For verbs and verb forms, it may mean that the actions happened sequentially, and sometimes simultaneously.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, AlpheccaStars, for your continuing to answer.
I agree with you about your opinion about "and."

Then, Whose interpreation do you think is right? - me or GPY

1) I am not a student, but a teacher.
2) I am a teacher, not a student.
3) I am a teacher, and not a student.
4) I am a teacher, but not a student.
Now I know #1, #2, and #3 have the same meaning and I shouldn't use such a structure as in #4; am I right?

Not A but B

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