Breakdown of Sie haben nicht nur die Sträflinge gefangen, sondern auch die Spione.
auch
also, too
haben
to have
sie
they
nicht
not
nur
only
sondern
but rather
fangen
to catch
der Spion
the spy (m)
der Sträfling
the convict
Questions & Answers about Sie haben nicht nur die Sträflinge gefangen, sondern auch die Spione.
How do we know the gender and plural of Sträflinge?
How does the -ling suffix affect the meaning of Sträfling?
The root is die Strafe (punishment) or strafen (to punish). The -ling suffix is often added to a verb stem or noun to describe a person who undergoes that action or has that trait—in this case, someone receiving a punishment.
Why is sondern used here instead of aber for the word 'but'?
You use sondern rather than aber when you are correcting or expanding on a negative statement. The fixed correlative conjunction nicht nur ... sondern auch (not only ... but also) requires it because the first half contains the negation nicht.
Why does the past participle gefangen appear before the end of the sentence?
The phrase sondern auch connects two noun objects here. You could write out two full clauses: Sie haben nicht nur die Sträflinge gefangen, sondern sie haben auch die Spione gefangen. By dropping the repeated words in the second part, gefangen is left sitting at the end of the first clause.
Why is the plural of der Spion just die Spione?
Der Spion is a masculine noun. While many masculine nouns describing people take an -n or -en ending in the plural (known as weak nouns, like der Student), Spion simply takes a regular -e plural.
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