Learn Spanish (Spain): Ayer fui al pueblo y no solo vi el mercado, sino también el balneario espectacular. - Yesterday I went to the town and not only saw the market, but also the spectacular spa.

Word

Ayer fui al pueblo y no solo vi el mercado, sino también el balneario espectacular.

Meaning

Yesterday I went to the town and not only saw the market, but also the spectacular spa.

Part of speech

sentence

Pronunciation

Course

Spanish (Spain)

Lesson

Correlative addition (no solo… sino también)

Breakdown of Ayer fui al pueblo y no solo vi el mercado, sino también el balneario espectacular.

the town, the village

no / not

Questions & Answers about Ayer fui al pueblo y no solo vi el mercado, sino también el balneario espectacular.

Why is it sino también in this sentence instead of sino que también?

We use sino que también when there is a new conjugated verb immediately following it. In this sentence, you are just connecting two noun phrases (el mercado and el balneario). Because there is no second conjugated verb after the contrast, you drop the que and simply use sino también.

Why is no solo placed exactly where it is in this sentence?

The phrase no solo goes right before the elements you want to emphasize and contrast. Here, placing it right before the verb vi (I saw) perfectly sets up the two impressive sights you are going to list: first el mercado, and second el balneario espectacular.

Does balneario mean the exact same thing as the English word "spa"?

They are very similar, but in Spain, a balneario specifically refers to a spa resort or bathhouse that is built over natural hot springs or mineral waters. If you are talking about a standard urban day spa for massages and beauty treatments, Spanish speakers usually just use the English loanword spa.

Why are we using the preterite tense (fui and vi) here instead of the imperfect tense?

The word Ayer (yesterday) creates a specific, closed timeframe. You are talking about completed actions that happened as a sequence of events in the past (you went, and then you saw). Listing completed, sequential past events is exactly what the preterite tense is used for.