Learn Hardcore German: Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos. - My female language partner not only corrects my pronunciation, she also sends me vocabulary cards as photos.

Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.

My female language partner not only corrects my pronunciation, she also sends me vocabulary cards as photos.

Breakdown of Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.

the language partner (female)

die Vokabelkarte

the vocabulary card

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Questions & Answers about Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.

Why is it meine Sprachpartnerin and not mein Sprachpartner?

German distinguishes grammatical gender, and also often marks the natural gender of people:

Sprachpartner = language partner (male or unspecified)
Sprachpartnerin = language partner (female)

The sentence is specifically talking about a female language partner, so the feminine form Sprachpartnerin is used.

Because Sprachpartnerin is feminine, the possessive must agree with that gender in the nominative singular:

meine Sprachpartnerin (feminine, nominative)
mein Sprachpartner (masculine, nominative)

So meine matches Sprachpartnerin (feminine), not mein (masculine/neuter).

Why is there a comma before sie schickt?

The comma is there because we have two main clauses:

Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur
sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos

In German, two independent main clauses joined without a conjunction (like und, aber) are separated by a comma. Compare:

Sie korrigiert meine Aussprache, sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten.
(More natural) Sie korrigiert meine Aussprache und sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten.

Here the comma marks the boundary between the two clauses.

Shouldn’t it be nicht nur … sondern auch …? Why is sondern missing?

The “classic” pattern in German is:

nicht nur … sondern auch … = not only … but also …

A more “complete” version of your sentence would be:

Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert nicht nur meine Aussprache, sondern sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.

In everyday language, sondern is often dropped when the contrast is very clear from context, especially in spoken German and informal writing. You still keep nicht nur and auch as a pair.

So:

… korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, sie schickt mir auch …

is a slightly more informal / stylistic variant of the full nicht nur … sondern auch … construction, and it’s still understood the same way.

Why is it meine Aussprache and not mein Aussprache?

Because Aussprache (pronunciation) is feminine in German: die Aussprache.

In the accusative singular (as a direct object), feminine nouns keep the same form of the article/possessive as in the nominative:

Nominative: meine Aussprache ist schlecht.
Accusative: Sie korrigiert meine Aussprache.

So both are meine, not mein, since Aussprache is feminine.

What cases are meine Aussprache, mir, and Vokabelkarten in, and why?

meine Aussprache is accusative (direct object)
- korrigieren = to correct something → What does she correct? → meine Aussprache
mir is dative (indirect object, the recipient)
- schicken = to send something to someone
- Pattern: jemandem (Dat) etwas (Akk) schicken
- sie schickt mir = she sends to me
Vokabelkarten is accusative plural (direct object of schicken)
- Was schickt sie? → Vokabelkarten
- Plural accusative of feminine die Vokabelkarte is die Vokabelkarten

Why is it mir and not mich?

German distinguishes between:

mich = first person singular accusative (direct object)
mir = first person singular dative (indirect object)

With schicken, the pattern is:

jemand schickt jemandem etwas
= someone sends someone (Dat) something (Akk)

So:

sie schickt mir (Dat) Vokabelkarten (Akk)
= she sends me vocabulary cards.

If you said sie schickt mich Vokabelkarten, that would be ungrammatical; mich can’t play the dative-recipient role here.

Why is the word order korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur and not nicht nur korrigiert sie meine Aussprache?

Both word orders are possible, but they sound different in style and emphasis.

Your sentence:
- Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, …
  Here the verb korrigiert is in the standard second position, after the subject, and nicht nur is at the end of the clause, just before the comma. This is a very normal, neutral word order.
Alternative:
- Nicht nur korrigiert meine Sprachpartnerin meine Aussprache, sie schickt mir auch …
  Here Nicht nur is moved to the beginning for stronger emphasis, like English:
- Not only does my language partner correct my pronunciation, she also…

This second version is more dramatic / rhetorical. The original sentence chooses the simpler, more neutral structure.

Where does auch have to go, and could I say sie schickt mir Vokabelkarten auch als Fotos?

In sentences with nicht nur … auch, auch usually goes in the “Mittelfeld” (middle field) of the clause, before or near the element it focuses on.

Natural options here:

sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos
(focus: in addition to the correcting, she also sends the cards)
sie schickt mir Vokabelkarten auch als Fotos
This shifts the emphasis: it suggests that she sends vocabulary cards in some other way and also as photos. That’s a different meaning:
- Version in your sentence:
  She corrects your pronunciation and also sends vocab cards (as photos).
- sie schickt mir Vokabelkarten auch als Fotos:
  She sends vocab cards in some form, and additionally in the form of photos.

So your word order is correct for the intended meaning (“also sends vocab cards”), while the alternative is only correct if you want to emphasize the additional format (also as photos).

What exactly does als Fotos mean here? Why als, not something like in Fotos or per Foto?

als Fotos literally means “as photos” / “in the form of photos.”

sie schickt mir Vokabelkarten als Fotos
= she sends me vocabulary cards as photos (e.g. she photographs the cards and sends the pictures)

als is used for roles, functions, or forms:

Er arbeitet als Lehrer. = He works as a teacher.
Sie schickt mir den Vertrag als PDF. = She sends me the contract as a PDF.

Other options and nuances:

per Foto = “by photo” (focuses more on the means of sending)
in Fotos would usually be understood more literally as “inside photos” and sounds odd here.

So als Fotos is the natural choice for “in the form of photos.”

What is the gender and plural of Vokabelkarte, and how would I say “a vocabulary card” and “the vocabulary cards”?

Vokabelkarte is feminine:

Singular:
- die Vokabelkarte = the vocabulary card
- eine Vokabelkarte = a vocabulary card
Plural:
- die Vokabelkarten = the vocabulary cards
  (article die is used for all plural nouns in nominative and accusative)

In your sentence, Vokabelkarten is plural accusative:
sie schickt mir Vokabelkarten (no article, but still plural because of -n).

Is Sprachpartnerin a compound word, and what does each part mean?

Yes, Sprachpartnerin is a compound noun:

Sprache = language
(in compounds, the linking form is often Sprach-)
Partnerin = (female) partner

So Sprachpartnerin literally means “language partner (female)”, i.e. a person you practice a language with.

The masculine/unmarked form is Sprachpartner (without -in).

Why is the verb in second position in both clauses (korrigiert, schickt)? There seem to be many words before it.

German main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the finite verb is the second element, not necessarily the second word.

Meine Sprachpartnerin korrigiert meine Aussprache nicht nur, …
- 1st element: Meine Sprachpartnerin (entire subject phrase)
- 2nd element: korrigiert (the finite verb)
sie schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.
- 1st element: sie
- 2nd element: schickt

Everything else (objects, adverbs, etc.) comes after the verb in the so‑called Mittelfeld (middle field). That’s why the sentence is still obeying the V2 rule even though there are multiple words before and after the verbs.

Could I say Sie korrigiert nicht nur meine Aussprache, sondern schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos instead? Is that more correct?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct and a bit more “textbook-like”:

Sie korrigiert nicht nur meine Aussprache, sondern schickt mir auch Vokabelkarten als Fotos.

Differences:

It uses the full nicht nur … sondern auch … structure, which is stylistically a bit more careful/explicit.
It drops the repeated subject sie in the second clause (after sondern), which is optional and sounds smooth:
- …, sondern sie schickt mir auch … (also correct)
- …, sondern schickt mir auch … (slightly more compact)

So your original version is fine and natural, and this one is just a slightly more “formal/standard” variant.