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No es que rechace el proyecto por pereza, sino que no tengo tiempo.

No es que rechace el proyecto por pereza, sino que no tengo tiempo.
It is not that I reject the project out of laziness, but rather that I don't have time.
From Lesson 329:Rejected reasons (no es que... sino que)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about No es que rechace el proyecto por pereza, sino que no tengo tiempo.

Why is rechace in the subjunctive here?
The phrase no es que introduces a rejected reason. In Spanish, when you deny that a specific reason is the true cause, you use the subjunctive to signal that it does not reflect reality. Here, rechace is in the present subjunctive because laziness is not the real reason for rejecting the project.
Why does the mood switch to the indicative for tengo in the second half?
The second half of the sentence provides the actual reason for rejecting the project. Because you are declaring a fact and stating what is actually true (no tengo tiempo), you must use the indicative mood.
Could I just use sino instead of sino que?
No, you need sino que here. While sino translates to but rather to correct a negative statement, you must add que whenever the correction introduces a full clause with a conjugated verb. Since tengo is a conjugated verb, sino que is required.
Why is it por pereza and not para pereza?
You use por because it indicates the cause or motive behind an action, which translates well to out of or due to in English. Para is used for future goals or purposes, which does not fit when explaining the backward-looking reason for an action.

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