You are not only not able to swim but also not able to play basketball.
2006-06-13 16:12:17 · 15 answers · asked by donotmisstony 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
This is an awkward sentence. A native speaker of English is unlikely to include so many instances of 'not', nor use the structure 'not only...but also' in this manner.
For a native speaker to express the idea your sentence carries, they might say: "You are not only unable to swim, you can't play basketball, either."
The correlative conjunctive structure 'not only...but also' is rarely used with negations, such as 'not able to' in your sentence. It balances a parallel structure, and your additional uses of 'not' unbalances the sentence.
If you really want to use the 'not only...but also' structure to express this idea, you could say "You are not only unable to swim, but also unable to play basketball." but this sentence still does not sound like native English. Ordinarily, the second 'unable' would be ellipted (left out) by a native speaker, which then makes the sentence ambiguous. I would not advocate the use of 'not only...but also' in a sentence where you wish to highlight someone's inability.
'Not only...but also' is better used to conjoin two ideas where the emphasis is on second idea, such as: "Practicing speaking English daily not only helps my knowledge of grammar, but also really improves my pronunciation." or "The storm not only wiped out my father's vegetable garden, but also my aunt's home."
I hope this not only helps you answer your question, but also helps you better understand the use of 'not only...but also'!
2006-06-13 18:11:08 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋
How about:
You are not able to swim or play basketball.
2006-06-13 23:18:56 · answer #2 · answered by BobTheBizGuru 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Double negatives are never correct. You use the word "not" twice. Instead, it could read "you are neither able to swim nor to play basketball."
2006-06-13 23:17:20 · answer #3 · answered by daveduncan40 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's correct, but it might make more sense to say "you are unable to swim nor play basketball"
2006-06-13 23:16:00 · answer #4 · answered by hhk67 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not exactly, you could say,"Not only are you unable to swim, but you are also unable to play basketball.
2006-06-13 23:16:53 · answer #5 · answered by divalious0124 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
maybe..."you are neither able to swim nor play basketball"
any seconds on this out there?
2006-06-14 01:47:55 · answer #6 · answered by blueEyes 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dun see anything wrong there. but when u speak it out, it will be a little confusing. u better say "you are not only unable (or incapable) to swim but also unable to play basketball.
2006-06-14 00:11:16 · answer #7 · answered by Julian 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
too many nots.. just say you are not able to swim nor play basketball.
2006-06-13 23:17:13 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The construction is totally wrong and it has too many negatives.
You are not only unable to swim, you are unable to play basket ball too.
2006-06-14 01:06:59 · answer #9 · answered by Jules G 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No - I would use the word "unable" instead of "not able" in both cases.
2006-06-13 23:18:50 · answer #10 · answered by Leigh S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋