Breakdown of Wir erhöhen nicht den Nutzen, sondern wir reduzieren das Leid.
wir
we
nicht
not
erhöhen
to raise / to increase
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
sondern
but rather
reduzieren
to reduce
das Leid
the suffering
der Nutzen
the benefit
Questions & Answers about Wir erhöhen nicht den Nutzen, sondern wir reduzieren das Leid.
How would I refer back to der Nutzen and das Leid as 'the former' and 'the latter' in a following sentence?
Because der Nutzen is masculine, 'the former' would be ersterer (or declined based on its role in the new sentence, like den ersteren). Das Leid is neuter, so 'the latter' takes the neuter form letzteres. For example: Ersterer ist schwer zu messen, letzteres ist offensichtlich. (The former is hard to measure, the latter is obvious).
Why do we use sondern here instead of aber for 'but'?
You must use sondern because you are directly contradicting and replacing a negative statement. The first clause contains nicht, and the second clause provides the mutually exclusive alternative. If you just wanted to add contrasting information without replacing the first part entirely, you would use aber.
Why is nicht placed right before den Nutzen? Doesn't it usually go at the end of the clause?
Normally, to negate the whole verb phrase, nicht would go at the end. However, in a nicht X, sondern Y (not X, but rather Y) construction, nicht goes directly in front of the specific element being contrasted and replaced—in this case, den Nutzen.
Could I use steigen instead of erhöhen for 'increase'?
No. Erhöhen is a transitive verb, meaning it takes a direct object: someone increases something (we increase the benefit). Steigen is intransitive and means something increases or rises on its own, like temperatures or prices. You cannot 'steigen' an object.
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