How to Use the Phrase “but rather” in a Sentence - Linguaholic

Part of what makes writing so interesting is that it's possible to do things which are stylistic choices rather than grammatical ones. SkiptoContent Partofwhatmakeswritingsointerestingisthatit’spossibletodothingswhicharestylisticchoicesratherthangrammaticalones. However,ifyouopttoaddflavortoyourwritingthisway,it’simportanttoknowthegrammaticalrulesinvolvedaswell. Onecaseinpointisthephrase“butrather,”whichisusedtoshowcontrastbetweentwoideas. Ifyou’veeverwonderedaboutthisphrase,readon!   Contents1Howtousethephrase“butrather”inasentence2Using“butrather”withcommas2.1Examples3Whynotjustsay“rather”or“but”?4Ratherwithoutthebut4.1Examples5Alert!“Rather”canalsobeanadverb   Howtousethephrase“butrather”inasentence Thephrase“butrather”isusedinasimilarwayto“however.”Thisphraseservestoshowcontrastbetweentwoideas,andessentiallymeans“ontheotherhand”or“infact.” Tousethisphrasegrammaticallyinasentence,acommamustbeplacedbeforethe“but.” Optionally,theword“rather”maybeplacedinbetweenapairofcommasaswell,althoughinpracticethisisnotoftendone. Ifyouwanttousejusttheword“rather,”youneedtoreplacethecommaandthe“but”withasemi-colon,as“rather”cannotstandaloneasapreposition.   Using“butrather”withcommas Touse“butrather,”acommamustbeplacedbeforetheword“but.” Thisisbecause“but”isaconjunctionand,withthisparticularconstruction,isonlyevergoingtobeusedtoconnecttwoindependentclausesinasentence. Muchlikewiththeword“then,”whenaconjunctionconnectstwoindependentclauseacommamustbeinsertedbeforetheconjunctioninorderforthesentencetobegrammatical. Theword“rather”istechnicallyanon-essentialpartofthesentence,meaningthatitsinclusionisnotrequiredforthereadertounderstandwhatisbeingsaid. Becauseofthis,“rather”canoptionallybesurroundedbycommas. However,becauseaddingcommasaround“rather”isconfusingandbecause“butrather”issomewhatofastockphrase,mostwritersdonotaddthecommasaroundtheword“rather.”   Examples “Thebankerwaspleasednotbecausehehadearnedalotofmoney,butratherbecausetheworkdaywasoverandhecouldgohometohisfamily.” Here,thecontrastisemphasizedbythephrase“butrather,”showingthatthebankerisnotobsessedwithmoneyaswemightfirstassume. “Theflowersdonotsmellsweet,but,rather,excretearottingsmelltoattractflies.” Thesheernumbercommasinthissecondexamplemakeitclearwhyauthorsoftenskiptheoptionalcommasaround“rather.” Again,thesearetechnicallygrammaticalbut,becausetheydonotaidinclarity,areoftenleftout.   Whynotjustsay“rather”or“but”? Thewords“but”and“rather”bothmeanmoreorlessthesamethingandareusedineffectivelythesamewayinasentence. Sowhynotjustuseone?Although“butrather”mightseemredundant,thatredundancyservestoemphasizethecontrastbetweenthetwodifferentpartsofthesentence. Thatsaid,youcertainlycangrammaticallyjustusetheword“rather”ifyouwouldprefer.   Ratherwithoutthebut Ifyouwanttojustuse“rather,”youwillneedtomakesurethatthewordisprecededbyasemi-colon,asinthiscase“rather”cannotgrammaticallyfollowacomma. Notethat“rather”canalsobeusedinothercontexts,andinsomeoftheseitmayinfactrequireacomma. However,whenitcomestothephrase“butrather,”ifyoudropthe“but”youabsolutelyneedasemi-colon.Thisisbecauseyouareactuallyreplacingtheword“but”withthatsemi-colon.   Examples “Ididn’tordermilk;rather,Iaskedforapplejuice.” “Themilitarydidnotattackinordertoconqueranenemy;rather,theywereconcernedforthesafetyoftheirpeople.” Here,asemi-colonisusedtoshowthattheseclausesareindependent.Althoughthemeaningissimilarto“butrather,”thereisarguablylesscontrastwithouttheword“but.”   Alert!“Rather”canalsobeanadverb Don’tforgetthat“rather”canalsobeusedasanadverbtomeansomethinglike“very.” Ifyoursentenceuses“rather”inthisway,“butrather”isactuallynotaphrasebecause“rather”shouldbeassociatedwiththewordthatfollowsit. Inthiscase,youshouldabsolutelynotputcommasaround“rather,”asitisessentialtothemeaningofthesentence. Forexample,“Itisheavy,butrathersmall”uses“rather”asanadverbtodescribe“small.” MarcelIseliHeyfellowLinguaholics!It’sme,Marcel.Iamtheproudowneroflinguaholic.com.LanguageshavealwaysbeenmypassionandIhavestudiedLinguistics,ComputationalLinguisticsandSinologyattheUniversityofZurich.ItismyutmostpleasuretosharewithallofyouguyswhatIknowaboutlanguagesandlinguisticsingeneral. Postnavigation HowtoSay“TakeCare”inJapaneseKisamainJapanese(andtheManyReasonsNOTtoSayIt) TopPostsTheManyMeaningsof“(Korean)CrowTit”DEMYSTIFIEDWhatisTheMeaningof/s?