Liveinjapan  +  490179 Tue, 18 Mar 08 06:41 AM You should be interested not only in things that can benefit you economically but also in broader cultural things. You should be interested in not only things that can benefit you economically but also broader cultural things. I think they are correct but which is better to say? Thanks LiJ Liveinjapan Joined on Sun, Feb 4 2007 Osaka, Japan Senior Member 2,272 Please feel free to correct any words I wrote.LiJ

	Doll  +  490200 Tue, 18 Mar 08 08:13 AM Only second one sounded correct to me. I don't like the idea of splitting prepositions in such structures. Even when you read, you feel confused, don't you? Or am I alone? Doll Joined on Sat, Mar 10 2007 Senior Member 2,806 Prepositions

	Yoong Liat  +  490206 Tue, 18 Mar 08 08:52 AM Hi LiJ  As Doll said, the following sentence is correct. You should be interested not only in things that can benefit you economically but also in broader cultural things. Yoong Liat Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006 Veteran Member 6,746

	Liveinjapan  +  490235 Tue, 18 Mar 08 11:19 AM Thanks, Doll and YL. I took a quick check on google and both are found. A Google search for the second structure in nytimes.com results in four times hits than that for the first. I think they both are correct but I don't know the difference of feeling.   Liveinjapan

	Grammar Geek  +  490321 Tue, 18 Mar 08 04:34 PM Just be parallel. not only in... but also in... or in not only x but also y Don't say "in not only x but also in y" Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,508 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Kooyeen  +  490346 Tue, 18 Mar 08 05:59 PM Grammar Geek “Don't say "in not only x but also in y"” Hi Barb, yes, but that's more related to style and "good writing" than grammar and idiomatic English, isn't it? I think native speakers are very likely to use unbalanced structures in everyday speech... Anyway, I wanted to ask a question about "not only... but also" I've always wanted to ask. Is it possible to merge "not also" with verbs, or is it a separate and fixed idiom that must remain that way? Example: You should be interested not only in things that can benefit you economically, but also in broader cultural things. You shouldn't only be interested in things that can benefit you economically, but also (in) broader cultural things. I think it's possible, but keeping "not only" separate is usually more emphatic. Thanks. Kooyeen Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005 Italy Senior Member 4,936 Parental Advisory / Explicit Posts Grammar, Verbs, Idioms

	Grammar Geek  +  490354 Tue, 18 Mar 08 06:17 PM How in heaven's name can you seperate good style from proper grammar and idiomatic English? Both (parellel) forms are grammatical. Your second example would leave me scratching my head on a first read -- am I not supposed to be interested in cultural things? And then I go back and figure out that "but also in" is a shortcut for "but you should also be interested in." It's casual writing and makes your reader work harder than you want him to. (That's also good style - don't make your reader work harder than necessary to understand your meaning.) You shouldn't be interested in ONLY things that can benefit you economically, but should take an interest in broader, cultural issues as well.   Grammar Geek Grammar, Proper Grammar

	Kooyeen  +  490398 Tue, 18 Mar 08 08:39 PM Grammar Geek “How in heaven's name can you seperate good style from proper grammar and idiomatic English?” Well, I was thinking of something like "Uh, y'know, I think it's, like, weird", which would definitely be idiomatic, but probably not good style if you put it in "good writing". But I see you were only considering written English... Grammar Geek “ It's casual writing and makes your reader work harder than you want him to.” ...while I mentioned "spoken English" in my post. No problem. You are a writer, so "good writing" is the first thing you think of, of course. Kooyeen Grammar, Proper Grammar