Breakdown of Los carbohidratos no son malos, sino que nos dan energía.
ser
to be
malo
bad
no
no / not
que
that (relative pronoun, conjunction)
nos
to us / ourselves / us (direct object)
dar
to give
la energía
the energy
sino
but (but rather)
el carbohidrato
the carbohydrate
Questions & Answers about Los carbohidratos no son malos, sino que nos dan energía.
Why do we use sino que here instead of just sino?
Both mean "but rather" after a negative statement. You use sino que because the second part of the sentence has a conjugated verb (dan). If there were no newly conjugated verb in the second part (for example, "Not bad, but good" -> No son malos, sino buenos), you would just use sino.
Could I use pero instead of sino que in this sentence?
No, because the first part of the sentence is negative (no son malos) and the second part directly corrects or replaces that idea. Pero just adds information or a limitation (like "They are good, but they have calories" -> Son buenos, pero tienen calorías). When you are expressing "Not A, but rather B", you must use sino or sino que.
Who is the subject of the verb dan in the second half?
Why is the pronoun nos placed before the verb dan?
Nos is an indirect object pronoun meaning "to us". In Spanish, object pronouns are placed immediately before the conjugated verb. So "they give us energy" becomes nos dan energía.
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