On 26 Nov 2005 21:11:42 -0800, "SwordAngel"
<swordangel@gmail.com> said:
[...]
> Which of the following sentence would be more correct, under what
> circumstances?
> 1. "I did this but not that."
> 2. "I did this and not that."
I sense a difference between them, but it's a little hard to
pin down just what it is.
I think it may be that when you say "I did this but not
that", you think saying "I did this" might imply that you
did that, and you want to hasten to add that it doesn't so
imply.
Saying "I did this and not that" doesn't seem to have that
implication. The thing you did and the thing you did not do
have less association.
I might say "I wore swimming trunks and not shoes", but
"I wore shoes but not socks".
Anyway, either of your examples is unexceptionably good and
natural English.
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