Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación en cada clase. - We not only study grammar, but also pronunciation in every class.

No solo estudiamos gramática… emphasizes the whole action “studying grammar” as something that is not the only thing you do.
No estudiamos solo gramática… emphasizes gramática more directly, as “grammar is not the only thing we study.”

In everyday speech, both versions are very natural and the difference is subtle.

What does no solo … sino también mean exactly, and is it a fixed expression?

No solo … sino también is almost a fixed expression in Spanish. It corresponds to:

“not only … but also …” in English.

Pattern:

No solo
- [element A], sino también
  - [element B]

Examples:

No solo leo novelas, sino también poesía.
Not only do I read novels, but I also read poetry.
No solo trabajamos, sino también estudiamos.
We not only work, but we also study.

In your sentence, no solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación fits this exact pattern.

Why is it sino and not pero in sino también pronunciación?

Spanish distinguishes between pero and sino:

pero = “but” (simple contrast, no negation required)
sino = “but rather / but instead” and normally follows a negation (like no)

Examples:

Quiero ir, pero estoy cansado.
I want to go, but I’m tired. (no earlier negation → pero)
No quiero té, sino café.
I don’t want tea, but rather coffee. (negation + correction → sino)

In No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación, we already have no at the beginning, and we are adding/contrasting a second element, so sino is the correct conjunction.

What is the difference between sino and si no (two words)?

sino (one word) is a conjunction used mainly after a negation, meaning “but rather / but instead”.
- No estudio medicina, sino derecho.
  I don’t study medicine, but rather law.
si no (two words) is literally “if not” (si = if, no = not).
- Llámame, si no vendré yo.
  Call me; if not, I’ll come over myself.

In your sentence, it must be sino (one word), because it’s part of the structure no solo … sino también ….

Why is there a comma before sino in gramática, sino también pronunciación?

Spanish usually places a comma before sino in the structure no solo … sino (también) …, because it separates two contrasted parts of the sentence:

No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación.

The comma marks the boundary between part A (no solo estudiamos gramática) and part B (sino también pronunciación). This is standard punctuation in Spanish.

Why is it estudiamos and not something like estudiamos in another tense or estamos estudiando?

Estudiamos here is present simple (we study). In Spanish, the present simple is used more broadly than in English:

Estudiamos gramática en cada clase.
We study grammar in every class. (regular, repeated action)

You could say estamos estudiando gramática y pronunciación (we are studying…), but that would usually refer to right now / this period of time, not a general habit in every class.

Also note: estudiamos can be present or preterite (past), depending on context. The phrase en cada clase strongly suggests a habitual present, not a completed past action.

How do we know estudiamos here means “we study” and not “we studied”?

Context tells you the tense, because estudiamos has the same form in:

present: nosotros estudiamos = we study
preterite: nosotros estudiamos = we studied

In this sentence:

en cada clase = in every class → describes a habitual, ongoing situation.
That fits present much better than a completed past.

So a natural interpretation is:

No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación en cada clase.
We don’t just study grammar; we also study pronunciation in every class. (regular habit now)

Why is there no article: gramática and pronunciación instead of la gramática and la pronunciación?

In Spanish, when you talk about school subjects or fields of study in a general sense, you often omit the article, especially after verbs like estudiar, aprender, etc.

So both of these are fine:

Estudiamos gramática y pronunciación.
Estudiamos la gramática y la pronunciación.

Differences:

Without articles: slightly more generic, like “we study grammar and pronunciation (as subjects in general).”
With articles: can feel a bit more specific (e.g., the grammar and the pronunciation of a particular language), though in everyday speech the difference is small.

In your sentence, dropping the articles is very natural and common.

Can I replace solo with solamente here?

Yes. solo and solamente are usually interchangeable when they mean “only”.

So you can say:

No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación.
No solamente estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación.

Both are correct and mean the same. Solo is more common in everyday speech because it’s shorter.

Why is solo written without an accent (sólo) here? I thought sólo with an accent meant “only”.

Traditionally, sólo (with accent) was used for the adverb “only”, and solo (without accent) for the adjective “alone”:

Vino solo. → He came alone.
Sólo vino. → He only came.

However, the modern recommendation from the RAE (Royal Spanish Academy) is:

Write solo without an accent in almost all cases, even when it means “only”, unless there is a real, serious risk of ambiguity.

In this sentence, there is no ambiguity at all, so the correct standard form is:

No solo estudiamos gramática…

In practice, many people in Spain still sometimes write sólo with an accent, but you do not need it, and most textbooks now follow the no-accent rule.

Why is también placed after sino in sino también pronunciación? Could I move it?

The most natural, standard order in this construction is:

no solo A, sino también B

So:

No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación.

You might sometimes see sino pronunciación también, but that sounds less natural and can feel a bit clumsy or marked in this type of phrase.

Keep:

sino también + [the second item]

as your default pattern. It’s what native speakers overwhelmingly use.

What does en cada clase add, and could I say en todas las clases instead?

En cada clase means “in every class”, emphasizing each individual class as a separate instance.

No solo estudiamos gramática, sino también pronunciación en cada clase.
Not only do we study grammar, but we also study pronunciation in every class.

You can say en todas las clases (= in all the classes). The meaning is very close, but:

en cada clase focuses a bit more on each single class.
en todas las clases can feel slightly more like a collective “in all of the classes overall”.

In everyday speech, they are almost interchangeable here. Both are correct.