Corrective Contrast (no... sino)
When playing a competitive trivia game, you often need to correct false assumptions. To say "not [this], but rather [that]," Spanish uses the structure no... sino.
Use this pattern to explicitly reject the first part of a statement and replace it with the correct information.
| That is not a false statement, but rather the truth. | Esa no es una afirmación falsa, sino la verdad. |
| Upon pressing the buzzer, she didn't choose this category, but rather another. | Al presionar el pulsador, ella no eligió esta categoría, sino otra. |
Notice that sino does not mean "but" in the sense of adding contrasting information (which would be pero). Instead, it acts as a direct replacement for whatever was negated in the first clause.
| The wildcard didn't give them a prize, but rather a better score. | El comodín no les dio un premio, sino un mejor puntaje. |
Restrictive Negation (no... más que)
To express that something is "nothing more than" or "only" what it appears to be, use the structure no... más que.
| That statement is nothing more than a trivia myth. | Esa afirmación no es más que un mito de la trivia. |
This structure restricts or limits the scope of the subject. It is frequently used to downplay the importance or difficulty of an obstacle, category, or rule in the game.
| This category is nothing more than a trap to lower the score. | Esta categoría no es más que una trampa para bajar el puntaje. |
| For the host, this is nothing more than a simple game. | Para el presentador, esto no es más que un simple juego. |