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Not Only, But Also 726 Views
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Want even more deets on Not Only, But Also? Click here to review. Or take a look at our entire grammar section for all the goods.
Transcript
- 00:04
Not only, but also, a la Shmoop Mr. Coleman not only yells at the kids to
- 00:09
get off his lawn, but also takes detailed descriptions of them to bring to the police
- 00:15
station every Sunday.
- 00:16
The police not only don't care, but also use the other side of Mr. Coleman's note
- 00:22
to play hangman while off-duty. The phrase not only, but also is a great tool
Full Transcript
- 00:28
for bringing something to the next level...
- 00:30
...sometimes a questionably sane level, but that's a matter we'll leave to the local
- 00:35
police. The setup is pretty simple.
- 00:38
Not only this thing, but also this crazier-scarier-fancier-whatever-er thing!
- 00:43
And there's only one rule to doing not only, but also right...
- 00:48
Agreement.
- 00:49
Agreement between the clauses following the not only and the but also.
- 00:53
So, the clauses have to agree.
- 01:00
They can be noun or verb clauses, but if they're in
- 01:02
the same sentence, they have to match.
- 01:05
That means that if you've got a noun clause before not only, you've got to have a noun
- 01:09
clause after but also.
- 01:11
"Mr. Coleman is not only a big jerk but also eats boogers for breakfast."
- 01:18
After not only, there's the noun clause "a big jerk," and after but also there's
- 01:23
the verb clause "eats boogers for breakfast."
- 01:26
So not only is followed by a noun clause while but also is followed by a verb clause. There's
- 01:32
no agreement. "Mr. Coleman is not only a big jerk but
- 01:40
also an eater of boogers."
- 01:41
...okay, that's... well, technically better.
- 01:44
Changing the second clause from "eats boogers" to "an eater of boogers" made both clauses
- 01:49
into noun clauses. Now there's agreement.
- 01:54
So as long as the clauses following not only and but also match -- they're both verb
- 01:59
clauses or noun clauses -- the sentence works.
- 02:03
But proper grammar doesn't make Mr. Coleman any happier about those kids on his lawn.
- 02:07
They really need to go inside and play Mario Party for six hours or something...
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