Breakdown of Wir spielen nicht gegeneinander, sondern miteinander.
spielen
to play
wir
we
nicht
not
sondern
but rather
miteinander
with each other
gegeneinander
against each other
Questions & Answers about Wir spielen nicht gegeneinander, sondern miteinander.
How are gegeneinander and miteinander formed in this sentence?
They are made by sticking a preposition directly onto the word einander (each other). gegen (against) + einander becomes gegeneinander, and mit (with) + einander becomes miteinander. This is the standard way to combine prepositions with "each other" in German.
Could we just say gegen uns and mit uns instead?
Not without changing the meaning. While uns can sometimes mean "each other" with certain reflexive verbs, after prepositions it is much clearer to use -einander compounds. gegen uns would mean "against us" (like another team playing against us), whereas gegeneinander specifically means the people in our group are playing against "each other".
Why does this sentence use sondern for "but" instead of aber?
You must use sondern when you are directly contradicting a negative statement. Because the first part of the sentence has nicht, and the second part provides the correct alternative (playing with each other instead of against each other), sondern is required to mean "but rather".
Why is nicht placed right before gegeneinander?
In German, nicht is placed right before the specific element it negates. We are not negating the verb spielen (we ARE playing), but specifically the way we are playing. Placing nicht right before gegeneinander sets up the perfect contrast for the sondern clause that follows.
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