Breakdown of Wij gebruiken de kassa niet meer, maar tellen het wisselgeld zelf.
niet
not
maar
but
wij
we
gebruiken
to use
Questions & Answers about Wij gebruiken de kassa niet meer, maar tellen het wisselgeld zelf.
Why is there no subject after maar?
This is an example of conjunction reduction (samentrekking). Because wij (we) is the subject of the first clause and would also be the exact same subject in the second clause, you can safely leave it out after the coordinating conjunction maar.
If I decided not to drop the subject, what would the word order be after maar?
If you keep the subject, it becomes: ... maar wij tellen het wisselgeld zelf. Because maar is a coordinating conjunction, it connects two main clauses and doesn't push the verb to the end. The verb tellen stays in the normal second position right after wij.
Why does zelf go at the very end of the sentence?
In Dutch, a specific direct object (het wisselgeld) usually comes before adverbs of manner or emphasis like zelf (ourselves). Placing zelf at the end of the clause puts extra focus on the fact that you are doing the counting manually, rather than relying on a machine.
Why do we use niet meer here instead of geen meer?