You can put not only at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. Not only + verb + subject… but +subject + also…Ĭorrelative conjunctions like not only…but also don’t require commas to separate the pairs.Subject + verb + not only… but also + verb….Not only + verb + subject… but + subject + also + verb….In a sentence, the actual construct of the expression looks like this: not only this… but also that. Use this construction to convey unexpected but related information. Similarly, if a noun follows not only, then a noun should follow but also ( She is not only a doctor but also a lawyer). For example, if a verb comes after not only, then a verb should come after but also ( He not only swims, but also rows). You know you’re using this pairing to correctly create parallelism when the same part of speech follows each part of the phrase. Basically, it sets up two related elements of a sentence. This expression is a correlative conjunction, and is useful for linking two closely connected clauses. Not only…but also is a way to create parallelism in a sentence. It conveys related pieces of information. Not only but also is a correlative conjunction. See exactly how to use this phrase effectively with tips for parallelism and plenty of examples. Not only but also is a two-part expression that’s used to create emphasis, convey unexpected information, or add balance to a sentence. See also doubt, than.Not only is she driven but also compassionate. However, when prepositional but and its following pronoun occur near the beginning of a sentence, the subjective case often appears: Everyone but she lost faith in the plan. In virtually identical contexts, when but is understood as a preposition, the pronoun following it is in the objective case: Everyone lost faith but her. When but is understood as a conjunction and the pronoun following it is understood as the subject of an incompletely expressed clause, the pronoun is in the subjective case: Everyone lost faith in the plan but she ( did not lose faith ). The cast is nearly complete, but, our efforts notwithstanding, we lack a star.

When it is used in the middle of a sentence as a coordinating conjunction like and or so, it is not followed by a comma unless the comma is one of a pair setting off a parenthetical expression: His political affiliations make no difference, but his lack of ethics does. But, like and, is a common transitional word and often begins sentences.

What part of speech is the word but