One sentence and 'but rather'

Question

It requires a full stop, breaking the sentence into two, but I suppose breaking the sentence up has its merits.Is this OK?Does 'but' join the main clause to the right to 1) the participle phrase on the left or 2) to everything on the left? Also, is 'but rather' superfluous?It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, but rather an unfortunate mishap.I often see it used as such, but wouldn't but on its own work fine?Thanks

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

English 1b3
It requires a full stop, breaking the sentence into two, but I suppose breaking the sentence up has its merits.

Is this OK?

Yes, but I prefer "... breaking up the sentence ...".

English 1b3Does 'but' join the main clause to the right to 1) the participle phrase on the left or 2) to everything on the left?

To me, the latter.

English 1b3
Also, is 'but rather' superfluous?

It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, but rather an unfortunate mishap.

I often see it used as such, but wouldn't but on its own work fine?

Thanks

"rather" gives a little extra emphasis to the contrast. It flags it up to the reader more elaborately than the little word "but".

English 1b3 · Answer

rather" gives a little extra emphasis to the contrast. It flags it up to the reader more elaborately than the little word "but".

That makes sense, thanks, Mr Wordy.

What about using 'instead' rather than 'but rather'?

It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, instead an unfortunate mishap.

Or what about 'rather' on its own?

It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, rather an unfortunate mishap.

Mr Wordy · Answer

English 1b3
What about using 'instead' rather than 'but rather'?

It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, instead an unfortunate mishap.

This doesn't seem right. It would need to be "instead it is ...", and I think the punctuation may need adjusting too, otherwise there's a whiff of a comma splice. You could put a semicolon after "early" or start a new sentence with "Instead".

English 1b3
Or what about 'rather' on its own?

It is not a tactic of the race car driver to pit early, rather an unfortunate mishap.

This looks OK. It's rather a literary form.

As a PS to my earlier reply, in a long and complicated sentence I think "but rather" (in contrast to plain old "but") can also assist the reader with parsing. For example:

"It is not the fact that <long and complicated statement>, but rather <contrasting statement>"

Here, "rather" may help to reassure the reader that "but" brackets off the whole of the first part of the sentence (all the way back to "It is not..."), and is not introducing some subsidiary clause.

English 1b3 · Answer

With regard to your comments on 'but rather,' I couldn't agree more. That's a good explanation for their different uses.

This doesn't seem right. It would need to be "instead it is ...",

Just as I thought. This means, therefore, that instead must not be used as a conjunction, but (rather) as a conjunctive adverb, correct?

(Thus, as a semicolon or period is required, along with a new subject and verb as you explained.)

Mr Wordy · Answer

English 1b3
This doesn't seem right. It would need to be "instead it is ...",

Just as I thought. This means, therefore, that instead must not be used as a conjunction, but (rather) as a conjunctive adverb, correct?

Yes, I think that's correct. You may sometimes see people use it as a conjunction in sentences such as:

"I didn't go out, instead I stayed in and watched TV."

However, to me this is dodgy punctuation.

English 1b3 · Answer

"I didn't go out, instead I stayed in and watched TV."

Yea, I would never punctuate it like that. That's a comma splice. Cheers.

One sentence and 'but rather'

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