Breakdown of Lo stilista non copia. Al contrario, crea modelli originali.
non
not
creare
to create
copiare
to copy
il modello
the design
originale
original
lo stilista
the fashion designer
al contrario
on the contrary
Questions & Answers about Lo stilista non copia. Al contrario, crea modelli originali.
Why is al contrario used here instead of just ma?
While ma (but) is a general connector of contrast, al contrario (on the contrary) specifically introduces an action that is the exact opposite of what was just denied. Here, creating original models is the direct opposite of copying. It emphasizes a strong substitution rather than just a simple difference.
Could I use bensì, the other connector in this lesson, instead of al contrario?
Yes, but you would likely combine the two sentences into one. Bensì (but rather / instead) is almost always used to link two clauses within the same sentence, usually separated by a comma: Lo stilista non copia, bensì crea modelli originali. In contrast, al contrario works perfectly at the beginning of a new sentence.
Why does stilista take the masculine article lo even though it ends in -a?
Professions ending in -ista can be both masculine and feminine, depending on the person. Here, the masculine article lo tells us we are talking about a male designer. We use lo instead of il because the word starts with an 's' followed by a consonant. If the designer were female, it would be la stilista.
Is the comma after Al contrario necessary?
Yes. When al contrario is used at the beginning of a sentence to link back to the previous statement, it acts as an introductory adverbial phrase and requires a comma immediately after it.
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