Double Conjunctions
जोड़ी संयोजक
German pairs certain conjunctions to link two ideas in a balanced structure — sowohl...als auch, entweder...oder, weder...noch — very much like Hindi's own pairs 'न केवल...बल्कि', 'या तो...या', 'न...न', making this one of the more comfortable B1 topics.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
sowohl...als auch: both...and
Sie spricht sowohl Deutsch als auch Englisch.
वह जर्मन और अंग्रेज़ी दोनों बोलती है।
This maps almost word for word onto Hindi's "दोनों...और", and the word order stays normal (no verb inversion), unlike a couple of the other double conjunctions below.
entweder...oder and weder...noch
Entweder komme ich heute, oder ich komme morgen. Er hat weder Zeit noch Geld.
या तो मैं आज आऊँगा, या कल आऊँगा। उसके पास न समय है न पैसा।
entweder...oder ('either...or') and weder...noch ('neither...nor') also match Hindi's pairs directly in meaning. One difference to note: when entweder opens the sentence, it counts as the first element, so the verb immediately follows it in second position (Entweder komme ich...) — the normal verb-second rule, but easy to miss if you think of 'either' as sitting outside the sentence structure.
nicht nur...sondern auch: not only...but also
Er ist nicht nur intelligent, sondern auch fleißig.
वह सिर्फ बुद्धिमान ही नहीं, बल्कि मेहनती भी है।
A close match with Hindi's "सिर्फ...ही नहीं बल्कि...भी", with the same logical emphasis: sondern (instead of the plain conjunction aber) is required here because it specifically corrects or adds to a negated first idea — the same restriction that sondern always carries after a negative (nicht) clause, seen in the basic negation lesson.
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| German | Pronunciation | Hindi | English |
|---|---|---|---|
| sowohl...als auch | zoh-VOHL ... ahls owkh | दोनों...औरdonoñ...aur | both...and |
| entweder...oder | ent-VAY-der ... OH-der | या तो...याyā to...yā | either...or |
| weder...noch | VAY-der ... nokh | न...नna...na | neither...nor |
| nicht nur...sondern auch | nikht noor ... ZON-dern owkh | सिर्फ...ही नहीं बल्कि...भीsirf...hī nahīñ balki...bhī | not only...but also |
| zwar...aber | tsvahr ... AH-ber | यह सच है कि...परyah sac hai ki...par | indeed/it's true...but |
| sowohl er als auch sie | zoh-VOHL air ahls owkh zee | वह और वह, दोनोंvah aur vah, donoñ | both he and she |
| weder heute noch morgen | VAY-der HOY-teh nokh MOR-gen | न आज न कलna āj na kal | neither today nor tomorrow |
| Ich mag weder Kaffee noch Tee. | ikh mahk VAY-der KAH-fay nokh tay | मुझे न कॉफ़ी पसंद है न चाय।mujhe na kŏfī pasand hai na cāy | I like neither coffee nor tea. |