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but
Message de bleumartine posté le 13-08-2005 à 15:52:11 (S | E | F | I)
Hi,

These two sentences have the same meaning - I think - I would like to know which one is more likely to be used..

- There isn't but compassion in this world.
- There isn't only compassion in this world.

Thanks in advance.

BleuMartine

Réponse: but de aimen7, postée le 13-08-2005 à 16:32:27 (S | E)
Hello bleumartine,
In your sentence "There isn't but compassion in this world.", a world is missing I think (anything).
-There isn't anthing but compassion in this world. (This is better).
-There isn't only compassion in this world. That one is correct.
Now if we compare them, we see that they haven't the same meaning and they are opposite.
To tell you which of the two is more likely to be used sounds absurd since they differ in meaning.
Without context to what you are asking us, it is impossble to give you a definite answer.
Besides, may I ask you what world you are talking about. If it is the world we are living in, I must say that the first sentence doesn't describe it at all. The second maybe!

Réponse: but de bleumartine, postée le 13-08-2005 à 19:27:42 (S | E)
Thank you very much for your reply.

I'm surprised : the two sentences were given by two different english speakers for a translation of "Il n'y a pas que de la compassion dans ce monde". As they write on a forum for FSL I didn't feel free to ask them, I was afraid to be out of topic. Maybe one of them made a mistake.

Looking through my old "the advanced learner's dictionary of current english", I saw that "but" can be an adverb. Here what it is written : "adv. only (which is more usual). We can but try, he left but an hour ago, he is but a boy, if I could but see you for an hour." A pity they didn't give my very sentence.

That didn't answer to my question which was actually : "which one is more idiomatic ?"

Thanks again

BleuMartine.

Réponse: but de traviskidd, postée le 13-08-2005 à 20:00:31 (S | E)
The writer of the second sentence obviously hasn't mastered "ne ... que" yet!

The first sentence is a correct translation of "ne ... que", and does not require the word "anything" (although usually it will be there).

The second sentence seems correct but unlikely. It means that compassion is not the only thing in the world, that there are things beside compassion. In any case, it is not a correct translation of "ne ... que"; the writer probably thought that "ne ... pas que" is different from "ne ... que".

The use of "but" to mean "only" is a similar (actually opposite) phenomenon to the "ne expletif" in French. "But" means "except", and it is "not but" that means "only". However, it is quite expressive, especially in poetry, to omit the "not".

Réponse: but de bleumartine, postée le 13-08-2005 à 20:40:31 (S | E)
Thank you Traviskidd.

it's all very clear now. I'll forget "but adverb".

BleuMartine.

Réponse: but de bleumartine, postée le 13-08-2005 à 21:01:25 (S | E)
Traviskidd,

"always read twice before you answer " will be my new motto.

Now, I think I understand.

Thanks again

BleuMartine.

Réponse: but de aimen7, postée le 13-08-2005 à 21:31:00 (S | E)
Hello,
I should follow the advice too because I haven't read twice.
before I gave you an answer. Sorry bleumartine.

Réponse: but de traviskidd, postée le 13-08-2005 à 21:59:40 (S | E)
You ~~haven't~~ didn't read twice.

(And of course, the prononuciation of "read" is affected!)

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