mhux biss ... iżda wkoll

Not Only and Also

Level 5

Mhux biss A iżda wkoll B includes A and adds B.

How It Works

Mhux biss rejects a limiting description; iżda wkoll adds a second applicable contribution. Compare Pawlu huwa għalliem biss, ‘Paul is only a teacher’, with Pawlu mhux biss għalliem, iżda wkoll kittieb, which includes teaching and adds writing. It does not deny that Paul is a teacher.

Keep the coordinated elements parallel. Two occupation nouns describe the same participant, and each takes the appropriate form. Tabiba and pittura identify female practitioners; għalliema and kittieba can describe a plural group. Frozen mhux can accompany nominal predicates with subjects of different persons, genders and numbers.

The pair can also select matching noun phrases inside a larger clause. Its focus follows placement. A related continuation uses imma. Both continuations add a contribution beyond the first, so translating mhux as a denial of the first description would misrepresent the whole construction.

Examples (3)

  1. Pawlu mhux biss għalliem, iżda wkoll kittieb.

    Paul is not only a teacher but also a writer.

    Both masculine singular occupations apply to Paul.

  2. Marija mhux biss tabiba, iżda wkoll pittura.

    Maria is not only a doctor but also a painter.

    Both nouns describe female practitioners.

  3. Huma mhux biss għalliema, iżda wkoll kittieba.

    They are not only teachers but also writers.

    Both occupation nouns describe the plural subject.

How It Connects

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mhux biss ... iżda wkollLevel 5Not Only and Also

Learn This First

Read the markers together as an additive contrast. Match each occupation noun to the participant and distinguish rejecting only from denying that the first occupation applies.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

mhux