Breakdown of Este nuevo hábito no solo mejora mi español, sino también mi memoria.
Questions & Answers about Este nuevo hábito no solo mejora mi español, sino también mi memoria.
Because hábito is a masculine singular noun, so all the adjectives that modify it must agree in gender and number:
- este = masculine singular demonstrative (this)
- nuevo = masculine singular adjective (new)
- hábito = masculine singular noun (habit)
Esta and nueva are feminine forms, so they cannot be used with hábito.
Yes, both are grammatically correct:
- este nuevo hábito
- este hábito nuevo
The difference is very subtle:
- Adjective before the noun (este nuevo hábito) often sounds a bit more neutral or expected in common expressions and can suggest that “new” is just a natural characteristic.
- Adjective after the noun (este hábito nuevo) can slightly emphasize or contrast the adjective more, like “this habit, which is new (as opposed to my other habits).”
In everyday speech, the difference is small; both are fine here.
Yes, no solo … sino también … directly corresponds to “not only … but also …” in English.
Structure in the example:
- no solo mejora mi español = not only improves my Spanish
- sino también mi memoria = but also (improves) my memory
The verb mejora is understood in the second part and is not repeated:
- Full version (less natural): Este nuevo hábito no solo mejora mi español, sino también mejora mi memoria.
- Natural version: Este nuevo hábito no solo mejora mi español, sino también mi memoria.
Spanish often omits the repeated verb when it’s clear from context.
Sino and pero both translate roughly as “but”, but they are used differently:
- pero = “but” in the sense of adding or contrasting information.
- Example: Mejora mi español, pero no mi memoria. (It improves my Spanish, but not my memory.)
- sino = “but rather / but instead,” usually after a negation, to correct or add an alternative element.
In no solo … sino también …, sino is a fixed pattern meaning “but also” (here, in the affirmative sense, not a correction of something wrong, but an addition after no solo). So sino is the correct conjunction in this set phrase.
You’ll very often see no solo … sino también … as a chunk.
They look similar but work differently:
sino (one word) = a conjunction, often meaning “but rather / but instead”, and in this structure “but also”.
- Example from the sentence: no solo mejora mi español, sino también mi memoria.
si no (two words) = “if not” (si = “if”; no = “not”).
- Example: Si no practico, no mejoro. (If I don’t practice, I don’t improve.)
In your sentence we need the conjunction sino, so it is written as one word.
Modern standard Spanish (RAE) recommends no accent in almost all uses of solo:
- no solo mejora mi español → preferred spelling
Historically, people sometimes wrote sólo (with accent) when it meant “only” and solo (without accent) when it meant “alone”, but today the norm is:
- Use solo without an accent in both meanings, unless there is a real ambiguity (which is rare and not the case here).
So no solo is the correct and modern spelling.
The comma before sino separates the two coordinated parts of the sentence:
- First part: Este nuevo hábito no solo mejora mi español
- Second part: sino también mi memoria
In writing, a comma is normally used before sino when it joins two longer clauses or phrases, especially in structures like no solo … sino también ….
In short, the comma here is standard and recommended punctuation.
The subject of mejora is este nuevo hábito:
- Este nuevo hábito = he/it (third person singular)
- So the verb is mejora (3rd person singular of mejorar).
If the subject were plural, the verb would also be plural:
- Estos nuevos hábitos no solo mejoran mi español, sino también mi memoria.
(hábitos → plural → mejoran)
You can, and it is grammatically correct, but it sounds less natural in everyday speech.
- me mejora el español literally means “improves Spanish for me”.
Native speakers are more likely to say:
- Este nuevo hábito mejora mi español y mi memoria.
- or your original no solo … sino también … version.
Using me here is possible but not needed; it slightly emphasizes the idea that the improvement is for me, which is already obvious from context.
In Spanish, names of languages are written in lowercase:
- español, inglés, francés, alemán, etc.
So:
- mejora mi español = correct (lowercase)
- mejora mi Español = incorrect in standard Spanish
This is just a difference in capitalization rules between English and Spanish.
In this sentence, mi memoria refers to my memory ability in general (my capacity to remember things).
- memoria = the mental faculty of remembering (memory as a skill or capacity)
- recuerdo = a specific memory or recollection (a thing you remember)
Examples:
Este nuevo hábito mejora mi memoria.
→ It improves how well I remember things in general.Tengo un recuerdo muy bonito de mi infancia.
→ I have a very nice memory from my childhood (a specific remembered event).
So mi memoria is the right choice when you mean your overall memory.
Hábito has an accent on the first syllable because of Spanish stress rules:
- It is a word ending in a vowel (o), so normally the stress would fall on the second-to-last syllable (ha-BI-to).
- But in hábito, the stress is on the first syllable (HÁ-bi-to), which is not the expected position.
- Therefore, it needs a written accent on há to mark the irregular stress: hábito.
This also helps distinguish it from other forms like:
- habito (I inhabit / I live in) – stress on BI: ha-BI-to
- habitó (he/she/it inhabited) – stress on TÓ: ha-bi-TÓ
In your sentence it is the noun “habit”, so it must be hábito.