A German Conjunction You Need to Know

Was ist eine Konjunktion wieder? Eine Konjunktion verbindet zwei Sätze. Sondern bedeutet in Englisch but or this but rather or also but instead Drei wichtige Punkte Position 0 Was ist das? Ist das eine Banane? Nein. Ist das eine Kiwi? Nein. Ist das ein Apfel? Nein. Das ist kein Apfel sondern eine Birne. Das ist kein Apfel, aber eine Birne. Das ist kein Apfel, sondern eine Birne. So here we have the first part, the first sentence which is this negated statement with here kein but you can also use nicht as mentioned before or niemand in most situations when you use sondern you will either use nicht or kein. If you're not sure about when to use nicht or kein the difference between those two we have a video linked down in the description. And the second part is sondern eine Birne, that's the correction. We have the sondern and then eine Birne that is the correction. So you can say this kein Apfel this is not true this is not an apple but it's a pear. So eine Birne, that's the true correction the true fact, which is the correction. So in other words you can see this sondern as kind of a scale in the middle between the negated statement which is for example a noun or a location or a verb and then the correct element which provides the factual correction. And this sondern is in between those two and kind of balances the true and not true one. Anderes Beispiel Der Zug fährt nicht nach Ulm sondern nach Wien. Der Zug fährt nicht nach Ulm sondern nach Wien. The train isn't going to Ulm but to Vienna. Here again we have the negated statement with nicht nach Ulm which is not true. The train is not going to Ulm, it's going to Vienna. And then this nach Wien is the true information Sondern nach Wien is the correct sentence part or the correct information which means it's the correction itself with sondern. Let's go to Satzbau sentence structure. Another example. Er ist nicht dumm sondern er ist extrem faul. Er ist nicht dumm sondern er ist extrem faul. He's not stupid but he is extremely lazy. Here again, first part is Hauptsatz. The first sentence is a main clause. Er ist nicht dumm, conjugated verb on second position, perfect. Sondern introduces also in most situations also a main clause. Es ist eine Hauptsatzkonjunktion sondern is a main clause conjunction. So for the vast majority of situations when you will use this Sondern you will have two main clauses. Zwei Hauptsätze. But you can actually use this Sondern also with not complete clauses just with adjectives or with nouns. But important and this is always the case you will always have a comma before this Sondern. So there is always a comma before Sondern. Now when it comes to this Position 0 still talking at the beginning of this video about this here you see it's Sondern actually doesn't count as a position. That's why it's called Position 0. Because er, subject and ist, second position where the conjugated verb belongs in a main clause it has to be on second position. So therefore the Sondern doesn't count as a position. You should know already other conjunctions which are also Position 0 these are the ones here und, oder, aber, und, denn. And Sondern all of them are Position 0 conjunktionen which means they don't count as a position. Now what about this er ist in brackets here. First sentence er ist nicht dumm sondern er ist extrem faul. This is like kind of the 100% correct version where you have the subject and the verb in each sentence part, in each main clause. But because it is the same in the first and in the second main clause you can actually drop it. Which means we would rather just say er ist nicht dumm sondern extrem faul. So we drop the er and ist in the second part, in the Sondern part because it is exactly the same subject and exactly the same verb as in the first main clause. Anderes Beispiel. Wir mieten kein Auto sondern wir kaufen zwei E-Bikes. Wir mieten kein Auto sondern wir kaufen zwei E-Bikes. We aren't renting a car but rather buying two E-Bikes. E-Bikes are E-Bikes. You can also have the German version which is Elektrorad or Elektrofahrrad. It's kind of a long, annoying name but E-Bikes is actually 100% correct and is accepted in Duden and everywhere. So easier version is just E-Bikes. And as before we have zwei Hauptsätze, we have two main clauses and again we have Sondern in Position 0, Wir in Position 1 und Kaufen, das konjugierte Verb, in Position 2. And then we have here this Mieten und Kaufen. So we have Wir, which is the subject in both clauses, the same subject, but we have two different verbs. We have Mieten und Kaufen. So this means you can only drop the information which is exactly the same in both parts which is here Wir. So we would rather say Wir mieten kein Auto sondern kaufen zwei E-Bikes ohne Wir. Machen wir weitere Beispiele. Let's do some more examples. Juan kommt nicht aus Spanien sondern aus Argentinien. Juan kommt nicht aus Spanien sondern aus Argentinien. Juan is not from Spain but from Argentina. Ich habe heute keine Zeit sondern erst morgen. Ich habe heute keine Zeit sondern erst morgen. I don't have time today. I will be available tomorrow. Or literally but only tomorrow. If you're not sure about this Erst here, the meaning of this Erst, we also have a video about this Erst oder schon, the difference between those two, also linked down in the description. Das Auto ist nicht schwarz sondern dunkelblau. Das Auto ist nicht schwarz sondern dunkelblau. The car isn't black but dark blue. dunkelblau dark blue, which is almost schwarz. Wir haben den Urlaub nicht storniert sondern nur verschoben. Wir haben den Urlaub nicht storniert sondern nur verschoben. Stornieren is to cancel something, so we didn't cancel the vacation, we just postponed it. Verschieben, etwas verschieben is to postpone something. Here a small side note, you see in the first main clause Wir haben den Urlaub nicht storniert this is in perfect, in present perfect tense, this means the Sondern part also always has to be in the same tense as the first main clause. And because it's also a verb with perfect mit haben, verschoben haben, we can cancel or we can drop this haben. Wir haben den Urlaub nicht storniert sondern wir haben in brackets, this you can drop because it's the same as in the first main clause nur verschoben. Sondern nur verschoben. Anderes Beispiel, Lisa trinkt nie Kaffee sondern immer nur Tee. Here we have an example with nie. Lisa trinkt nie Kaffee sondern immer nur Tee. Lisa never drinks coffee she always drinks only tea. Oder Wir fahren im Urlaub nie ans Meer sondern meistens in die Berge. Wir fahren im Urlaub nie ans Meer sondern meistens in die Berge. We never go to the beach on vacation, instead, we have an example of this which is more like with this instead or but rather, we usually go to the mountains. Und ein Beispiel mit niemand. Ich habe niemanden gesehen sondern nur eine laute Stimme gehört. Ich habe niemanden gesehen sondern nur eine laute Stimme gehört. I didn't see anyone but I did hear a loud voice. Now here this niemanden is actually not B1 level this is an indefinite pronoun which is usually introduced in B2 level. We have a video about this as well. I will link it at the end of this video which is very soon. Er hat mit niemandem darüber gesprochen sondern das Geheimnis für sich behalten. Er hat mit niemandem darüber gesprochen sondern das Geheimnis für sich behalten. Ein schwieriger Satz. He didn't talk to anyone about it but instead he kept the secret to himself. Für sich behalten. Etwas für sich behalten. Is to keep something to yourself. Bonus tip. A very short one but an important one. A common question. Sondern und aber. Because they both translate to this but. So when to use which. In general you can actually use both in a lot of situations but to make it simple. Sondern is used for a correction. When you want to correct something in the same clause or as an alternative. So no not that but rather this. Aber is used for most situations for a contrast or a limitation. Yes that is true but. But the easiest difference is actually this. Sondern only works if there is a negation in the clause before. Nicht oder kein. So if there is no negation always use aber. Always use aber. If there is a negation and let's keep it simple. It's about a correction. Then use Sondern. For other situations use aber. And if you want to know about Sondern as a two part conjunction. Nicht nur sondern auch. Then this video here is for you. Or as mentioned before Indefinite Pronomen. Ein B2 Video. I hope you learned something. Bis zum nächsten Mal. Tschüss und Babai.