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### The Conjunction *sondern* (but rather)

When you want to correct a misconception by saying "not this, but rather that," use the coordinating conjunction **sondern**. 

You can only use *sondern* after a negative statement. This means the first part of the sentence must contain a negative word like **nicht** (not) or **kein** (no / not a).

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Notice that if the subject and the verb are exactly the same in both halves of the thought, you do not need to repeat them after *sondern*. You can simply contrast the specific details, such as the direct objects or adjectives.

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### Contrasting Prepositional Phrases

You can also use *sondern* to contrast prepositional phrases. Let's look at the verb **verzichten auf**, which means "to give up" or "to go without" something.

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When correcting what someone is giving up, or how they are doing something, you should include the preposition again after *sondern* for clarity.

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### Connecting Full Clauses

Sometimes the contrasting truth requires an entirely different action. In these cases, *sondern* connects two complete clauses. Because it is a coordinating conjunction (just like *und* or *aber*), it does not change the word order of the clause that follows it—the subject still comes first, followed by the conjugated verb.

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But rather (sondern)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (der, die, das)

Indefinite articles (ein, eine)

Regular verbs and statement word order (ich -e, er -t)

The second person (du -st, Sie -en)

Yes/No questions

The verb 'to have' (habe, hast, hat)

Plural pronouns and regular verbs (wir, ihr, sie)

Plural 'to be' and 'to have' (sind, haben)

Plural nouns and the plural article (die)

Sentence negation (nicht)

Noun negation (kein, keine)

Question words (wer, was, wo, wie)

Numbers 0 to 12 (null, eins, zwei)

The accusative case (den, die, das)

Indefinite accusative articles (einen, keinen)

Direct object pronouns (mich, dich, ihn)

There is / there are (es gibt)

Vowel changes: e to i/ie (er spricht, sie liest)

Vowel changes: a to ä (er fährt)

Weather and conditions (es regnet)

First- and second-person possessives in the nominative (mein, dein, Ihr)

First- and second-person possessives in the accusative (meinen, deinen, Ihren)

Third-person and plural possessives (sein, ihr, unser, euer)

Possession with names (Annas Auto)

Demonstrative pronouns (dieser, diese, dieses)

Expressing preference (gern, lieber)

Asking about direction and origin (woher, wohin)

Expressing ability (können)

Polite requests (möchten)

Expressing intention (wollen)

Modal verbs of obligation and permission (müssen, dürfen)

Separable prefix verbs

Adverbs of frequency (immer, oft, manchmal, nie)

The Dative case and definite articles (dem, der, den)

Dative indefinite and negative articles (einem, einer, keinem)

Dative personal pronouns (mir, dir, ihm, ihr...)

Dative verbs (helfen, danken, gefallen, schmecken)

Dative prepositions (aus, bei, mit, nach...)

Accusative prepositions (für, ohne, gegen)

Two-way prepositions for location (in, an, auf...)

Informal singular imperative (mach, komm)

Plural and formal imperative (macht, machen Sie)

Coordinating conjunctions (und, oder, aber, denn)

Simple past of sein and haben (war, hatte)

The perfect tense: regular verbs (gemacht, gespielt)

Past tense: irregular verbs (ge-...-en)

The perfect tense: mixed verbs (gebracht, gekannt)

The perfect tense with sein (ist gegangen)

The perfect tense: separable verbs (eingekauft)

The perfect tense: inseparable and -ieren verbs (besucht, studiert)

Informal singular commands (mach, lern)

Numbers 13 to 20 (dreizehn to zwanzig)

Counting by tens to 100 (dreißig, vierzig)

Telling time (Uhr, halb, Viertel, vor, nach)

Numbers 21 to 99 (einundzwanzig, zweiunddreißig)

Greetings and farewells

Thank you, sorry and good wishes

Everyday replies

Numbers 100 to 1,000,000 (hundert, tausend...)

Becoming and getting (werden)

The impersonal pronoun (man)

Indefinite pronouns (jemand, niemand...)

Time sequence prepositions (vor, nach, bei)

Time span prepositions (von... bis, seit, für)

Adverbs of sequence (zuerst, dann, danach)

Two-way prepositions for direction (in, auf, an...)

Directional adverbs (hin, her)

Placement verbs (setzen, stellen, legen)

Months of the year (Januar, Februar)

The four seasons (Frühling, Sommer)

Time prepositions and indefinite pronouns (an, in, um)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 19th (am ersten)

Ordinals 20th and beyond (-ste, -sten)

Placement vs. location verbs (stellen vs. stehen)

Accusative reflexive pronouns (mich, dich, sich)

Accusative reflexive verbs (sich freuen)

Dative reflexive pronouns (mir, dir, sich)

Dative reflexive verbs (sich etwas merken)

Ordinal numbers 11th to 19th (-te)

Temporal prepositions (an, in, um)

Double objects with nouns

Double objects with pronouns

The modal verb for advice (sollen)

Simple past of modal verbs (musste, wollte...)

Simple past of common irregulars (wurde, wusste, es gab)

Adverbial connectors of consequence (deshalb, darum...)

Subordinate clauses for statements (dass)

Question	Answer
the chicken	das Hähnchen
but rather	sondern
The chicken is not a vegetable, but rather meat.	Das Hähnchen ist kein Gemüse, sondern Fleisch.
the meal	die Mahlzeit
vegan	vegan
vegetarian	vegetarisch
The meal is not vegan, but rather vegetarian.	Die Mahlzeit ist nicht vegan, sondern vegetarisch.
the rice	der Reis
We are not eating the chicken, but rather the rice.	Wir essen nicht das Hähnchen, sondern den Reis.
the noodle	die Nudel
I am not giving the boy the chicken, but rather noodles.	Ich gebe dem Jungen nicht das Hähnchen, sondern Nudeln.
the nut	die Nuss
It is not a potato, but rather a nut.	Es ist keine Kartoffel, sondern eine Nuss.
raw	roh
She does not eat the vegetable raw, but rather she cooks it.	Sie isst das Gemüse nicht roh, sondern sie kocht es.
We do not eat the rice with the spoon, but rather with the fork.	Wir essen den Reis nicht mit dem Löffel, sondern mit der Gabel.
It is not the cold rice, but rather the warm meal.	Es ist nicht der kalte Reis, sondern die warme Mahlzeit.
to give up	verzichten auf
Many people give up meat so that they live vegan.	Viele Leute verzichten auf Fleisch, damit sie vegan leben.
The student does not give up noodles, but rather bread.	Der Student verzichtet nicht auf Nudeln, sondern auf Brot.
I do not eat the vegetable raw so that it tastes better.	Ich esse das Gemüse nicht roh, damit es besser schmeckt.
We are not cooking vegan today, but rather vegetarian.	Wir kochen heute nicht vegan, sondern vegetarisch.
He is not eating a potato, but rather a nut.	Er isst keine Kartoffel, sondern eine Nuss.

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