Double Conjunctions
Double Conjunctions
German pairs certain conjunctions together to link two ideas in one balanced structure — sowohl...als auch, entweder...oder, weder...noch — closely matching English's own paired conjunctions ('both...and', 'either...or', 'neither...nor'), so this is one of the more intuitive B1 topics for English speakers.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
sowohl...als auch: both...and
Sie spricht sowohl Deutsch als auch Englisch.
She speaks both German and English.
This pairs almost word-for-word with English 'both...and', and word order stays normal (no verb inversion), unlike some other paired conjunctions below — a rare case where habit from English word order won't lead you astray.
entweder...oder and weder...noch
Entweder komme ich heute, oder ich komme morgen. Er hat weder Zeit noch Geld.
Either I'll come today, or I'll come tomorrow. He has neither time nor money.
entweder...oder ('either...or') and weder...noch ('neither...nor') also map directly onto their English counterparts in meaning. One difference to watch: when entweder opens the sentence, it counts as the first element, so the verb immediately follows it in second position (Entweder komme ich...) — normal verb-second order, just easy to fumble if you pause to translate 'either' as if it sat outside the sentence structure.
nicht nur...sondern auch: not only...but also
Er ist nicht nur intelligent, sondern auch fleißig.
He's not only intelligent but also hardworking.
A close match to English 'not only...but also', with the same logical force: sondern (rather than the plain conjunction aber) is required here because it specifically corrects or adds to a negated first idea — the same restriction sondern has whenever it follows a nicht clause, as covered with basic negation.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| sowohl...als auch | zoh-VOHL ... ahls owkh | both...and |
| entweder...oder | ent-VAY-der ... OH-der | either...or |
| weder...noch | VAY-der ... nokh | neither...nor |
| nicht nur...sondern auch | nikht noor ... ZON-dern owkh | not only...but also |
| zwar...aber | tsvahr ... AH-ber | indeed/it's true...but |
| sowohl er als auch sie | zoh-VOHL air ahls owkh zee | both he and she |
| weder heute noch morgen | VAY-der HOY-teh nokh MOR-gen | neither today nor tomorrow |
| Ich mag weder Kaffee noch Tee. | ikh mahk VAY-der KAH-fay nokh tay | I like neither coffee nor tea. |