Word
לא הכיבוד חשוב לה, אלא הזמן עם החברות שלה.
Meaning
It is not the refreshments that are important to her, but the time with her friends.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Questions & Answers about לא הכיבוד חשוב לה, אלא הזמן עם החברות שלה.
What does the pattern לא ... אלא ... mean?
This is a very common Hebrew contrast pattern.
It means:
not X, but rather Y
or
it isn’t X that matters, but Y
So in this sentence:
לא הכיבוד חשוב לה, אלא הזמן עם החברות שלה.
the speaker is contrasting two things:
- הכיבוד = the refreshments / snacks
- הזמן עם החברות שלה = the time with her friends
A natural English equivalent is:
It’s not the refreshments that are important to her, but the time with her friends.
אלא is stronger and more corrective than אבל. It does not just mean but in a general sense; it means rather / instead after a negation.
Why is אלא used here instead of אבל?