לא … כי אם …
Replacing One Claim with Another
לא ... כי אם means not ... but rather. It replaces the denied alternative with the one stated afterward.
How It Works
The Corrected Alternative
זו לא טעות, כי אם בחירה denies the characterization mistake and supplies choice instead. Read כי אם as a complete corrective connector in this construction.
Parallel Parts
קניתי לא תה, כי אם קפה contrasts two bought items. לא דנה באה, כי אם יעל contrasts two possible subjects. Both alternatives fill the same role in their sentence.
Contrasting Actions
הוא לא התנגד, כי אם ביקש הסבר replaces the denied action with the stated action. The correction is asking for an explanation rather than objecting.
Examples (4)
- זו לא טעות, כי אם בחירה.
This is not a mistake but a choice.
The second noun replaces the denied characterization.
- קניתי לא תה, כי אם קפה.
I bought coffee rather than tea.
The object type is corrected.
- לא דנה באה, כי אם יעל.
It was Yael who came, not Dana.
The identity of the arriver is corrected.
- הוא לא התנגד, כי אם ביקש הסבר.
He did not object but instead asked for an explanation.
The second action replaces the denied interpretation.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Correct one proposed alternative with another using a contrastive formal construction.
Related Patterns
Practice לא … כי אם … in Bubblegum
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