Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Not Only Pesky, But Also Annoying

You've heard of the brother system--taking a friend along when you travel swimming.

The thought behind the brother system is that if you get to drown, your brother will salvage your life. Not only will he salvage your life, but also he will name for help. This mightiness be an odd manner to begin an article about writing, but it have a point.

The point is that some phrases utilize the brother system. One phrase, swimming without its buddy, will be "dead in the water." For example, most people are familiar with the "either...or" and "neither...nor" buddies. Using only one portion of these braces is incorrect.

Some brothers are a spot more complex, such as as "if...then" phrases. A right illustration of this is "If you don't cognize how to swim, then you shouldn't plunge into the pool." The "then" can be left out, as it is assumed. Here's another illustration of this: "If I had taken swimming lessons, [then] I wouldn't have got to have on this ugly life refinisher in the pool."

However, the pesky brace that is most often used incorrectly is the "not only...but also" phrase. Not only make people utilize it incorrectly, but also some people utilize it too often.

Here's the rule: If you utilize "not only," then you necessitate to utilize "but also." That "also" doesn't necessitate to follow immediately after the "but," but it makes demand to be used. Here are some illustrations of drowning brothers and their corrections:

1. Wrong: "Not only will he salvage your life, but he will name for help." [Missing "also"]

Correct: "Not only will he salvage your life, but he will also name for help."

2. Wrong: "Not only make I like pizza, I also like lasagna." [Missing "but"]

Correct: "Not only make I like pizza, but I like lasagna, too." ["Too," as used here, is a equivalent word for "also."]

Some people utilize this phrase too often. We urge that you utilize this brace of brothers very sparingly. Here's why. When you utilize this pair, you put a batch of accent on the 2nd portion of the sentence. If you make this too often, you make too many "HUPAs" (Hey, you. Wage attention!) Not only makes this cause your sentences to lose impact, but the authorship also goes boring to read.

A good option to using "Not only...but also" is simply to utilize "and." For example, "Not only can't I swim, but also I can't fly" could be written as "I can't swim, and I can't fly." In the same way, "Not only make I like the pool, but also I like the sunshine" could be written as "I like the pool and the sunshine."

A good author understands the mechanics of authorship and how to utilize words and phrases purposefully. Addressing these "not only...but also" issues will assist a author make both.

This tin be a spot confusing, so if you necessitate professional help, don't waver to inquire for it. Not only are professional editors available, but also they are interested in helping you compose well. As our slogan states: Good authorship always matters.

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