Word
Ten las nie tylko daje schronienie, lecz także produkuje tlen przez cały rok.
Meaning
This forest not only provides shelter, but also produces oxygen all year round.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ten las nie tylko daje schronienie, lecz także produkuje tlen przez cały rok.
ten
this (m)
las
forest
rok
year
cały
whole, entire
Questions & Answers about Ten las nie tylko daje schronienie, lecz także produkuje tlen przez cały rok.
The sentence uses lecz także. Could I use ale także instead, and what is the difference?
Yes, you can absolutely use ale także. Both mean "but also" and function identically in the nie tylko..., lecz/ale także... structure. The word lecz sounds slightly more formal or literary than ale, which is why it often shows up in writing, but both are grammatically correct and interchangeable here.
I see the word nie at the start of the sentence. Why don't the verbs take the genitive of negation for their objects (schronienie, tlen)?
This is a classic trap! The word nie here is attached directly to tylko to form the fixed phrase nie tylko (not only). It doesn't negate the verbs daje or produkuje—the forest is actively doing both of those things. Because the verbs themselves are positive, their direct objects remain in the accusative case.
Is the comma before lecz także mandatory in Polish?
Yes. In Polish, you must always put a comma before the second part of a correlative conjunction like lecz także, ale również, or ale też. Unlike in English, where comma rules for "but also" can be flexible depending on the clause structure, Polish punctuation strictly requires it to separate the two contrasted elements.
Why do we use the preposition przez in the phrase przez cały rok?