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sad_general
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Usage of X but rather Y 21 Sep 2016, 11:57
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Hello experts,

I wanted to know when we can use the idiom "X but rather Y".

I agree that we use to join items that are grammatically equivalent.

However, I wanted to know if X and Y can be nouns, adjectives or clauses, or is it that this idiom is used only for nouns and adjectives.

Thanks,
sad_general

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Usage of X but rather Y 21 Sep 2016, 16:40
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sad_general
Hello experts,

I wanted to know when we can use the idiom "X but rather Y".

I agree that we use to join items that are grammatically equivalent.

However, I wanted to know if X and Y can be nouns, adjectives or clauses, or is it that this idiom is used only for nouns and adjectives.

Thanks,
sad_general
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Dear sad_general,

I'm happy to respond. :-) First, I would say that the X is often preceded by "not," so the whole idiom would something more like "not X but rather Y." In many ways, the real idiom is "not X but Y" and the word "rather" is simply an intensifier.

This is a rather versatile idiom. It certainly can be used for nouns & adjectives. It can be used for verb and verb phrases, for participial phrase & infinitive phrases & gerund phrases. It's hard to imagine it for two clauses, although it could be used for two short nouns, each modified by a clause.
He was not a man who would do P, Q, and R, but rather a man who would do X, Y, and Z.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Usage of X but rather Y 22 Sep 2016, 11:16
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mikemcgarry

Dear sad_general,

I'm happy to respond. :-) First, I would say that the X is often preceded by "not," so the whole idiom would something more like "not X but rather Y." In many ways, the real idiom is "not X but Y" and the word "rather" is simply an intensifier.

This is a rather versatile idiom. It certainly can be used for nouns & adjectives. It can be used for verb and verb phrases, for participial phrase & infinitive phrases & gerund phrases. It's hard to imagine it for two clauses, although it could be used for two short nouns, each modified by a clause.
He was not a man who would do P, Q, and R, but rather a man who would do X, Y, and Z.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Thanks, Mike!

In fact it does. So to conclude, you will see the usage of this idiom among nouns, verbs, adjectives, gerunds, participle phrases and what not, but there is no evidence of usage to combine clauses.

Sadiq


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Usage of X but rather Y 11 Jun 2019, 04:35
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sad_general
Hello experts,

I wanted to know when we can use the idiom "X but rather Y".

I agree that we use to join items that are grammatically equivalent.

However, I wanted to know if X and Y can be nouns, adjectives or clauses, or is it that this idiom is used only for nouns and adjectives.

Thanks,
sad_general
Dear sad_general,

I'm happy to respond. :-) First, I would say that the X is often preceded by "not," so the whole idiom would something more like "not X but rather Y." In many ways, the real idiom is "not X but Y" and the word "rather" is simply an intensifier.

This is a rather versatile idiom. It certainly can be used for nouns & adjectives. It can be used for verb and verb phrases, for participial phrase & infinitive phrases & gerund phrases. It's hard to imagine it for two clauses, although it could be used for two short nouns, each modified by a clause.
He was not a man who would do P, Q, and R, but rather a man who would do X, Y, and Z.

Does all this make sense?
Mike :-)
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Shivamraz
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Usage of X but rather Y 11 Apr 2021, 19:55
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isn't the use of but rather is redundant?
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Usage of X but rather Y 12 Apr 2021, 05:54
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Might be good to look at an SC holistically.
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Usage of X but rather Y 16 May 2021, 07:53
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Can some clarify which here is the right parallel structure? I'm getting conflicting answers, so please help.

1. The team traveled rather than flew to the tournament

2. The team traveled rather than fly to the tournament

3. The team traveled rather than flying to the tournament

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