Breakdown of Niet alleen is deze rijles leuk, maar de instructeur is ook aardig.
zijn
to be
ook
also / -ever (concessive particle)
niet
not
maar
but
leuk
nice / fun
deze
this / these
alleen
alone; only
aardig
nice / kind (friendly person)
de rijles
the driving lesson
de instructeur
the instructor
Questions & Answers about Niet alleen is deze rijles leuk, maar de instructeur is ook aardig.
Why is it is deze rijles instead of deze rijles is?
When a sentence starts with something other than the subject, like the phrase Niet alleen (Not only), the verb and subject swap places. This is the standard inversion rule in Dutch.
Why doesn't the second half invert to maar is de instructeur?
The word maar (but) is a coordinating conjunction. It links two main clauses without affecting the word order of the second one. The new clause simply starts with its normal subject, de instructeur.
Is the combination of niet alleen and maar ... ook always used together?
Yes, just like in English 'not only ... but also', niet alleen in the first clause is naturally followed by maar ... ook in the second clause to emphasize that both things are true.
Why does ook come before aardig?
In Dutch, ook (also) typically comes after the finite verb and before the specific adjective or noun it emphasizes. Putting it at the very end of this sentence would sound unnatural.
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