OG12-Q92 not x but rather y

mongmong

The energy source on Voyager 2 is not a nuclear reactor, in which atoms are actively broken apart; rather a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.
(A) apart; rather
(B) apart, but rather
(C) apart, but rather that of
(D) apart, but that of
(E) apart; it is that of


OG 的解释写: This sentence focuses on a contrast by using the construction not x, but rather y.


我想问这里的逗号是因为x后面接着从句产生的，事实上真正的construction 是not x but y, 中间没有逗号的，对吗？


其他类似结构，比如not only x but also y, neither x nor y, both x and y也一样，对吗？

aeoluseros

对的~~
当然如果not ... but ... 结构中，如果not后面的内容太长太复杂，but前面加个逗号也是一样的。
加了逗号意思没有改变，就没有问题。

mongmong

对的~~
当然如果not ... but ... 结构中，如果not后面的内容太长太复杂，but前面加个逗号也是一样的。
加了逗号意思没有改变，就没有问题。

-- by 会员 aeoluseros (2012/4/26 19:35:06)

谢谢斑斑的回答,看到OG-109对选项C的解释中提到no comma following either x in the construct of "either x or y"，就疑惑了了一下。