9. Pero vs sino, or how to say ‘but’ in Spanish

We don’t have this distinction in English, because we use “but” in both cases:

No está en Ealing, pero está en Londres.                  It is not in Ealing, but it is in London.

No está en Ealing sino en Queensway.                      It is not in Ealing but in Queensway.

– “Pero”: we can replace it with “aunque” (although). El vestido es bonito pero caro. The dress is nice but expensive. We can also say: Although it’s nice, the dress is expensive. Both things are true. The two elements are not opposite (“bonito” is the opposite of “feo”, not the opposite of “barato”).

– “Sino” (on the contrary/but instead/but rather): we cannot accept both things, because there will be a contradiction: El vestido no es barato sino caro. The dress is not cheap but rather expensive. Only one thing is true. Also, notice that when we use “sino”, the first element is always negative, and the elements are opposite (“caro” and “barato”).

Compare these examples:

No quiero comer pero voy a beber un té. No quiero comer pollo sino pasta.

I don’t want to eat but I am going to drink tea. I don’t want to eat chicken but pasta.

No son italianos pero viven en Italia. No son italianos sino franceses.

They are not Italian but they live in Italy. They are not Italian but French.

Notice that, when “sino” is in front of a conjugated verb, we need to add the pronoun “que”: No te dije que vengas hoy sino que vengas mañana. I didn’t tell you to come today but tomorrow.

– “No solo… sino también”: this is the way to say “not only… but also”. You can say “no solo” or “no solamente”, it is exactly the same. This means basically “y” but it is more emphatic: Invitó a sus amigos y también a su hermana. He invited his friends and also his sister. No solo invitó a sus amigos sino también a su hermana. He not only invited his friends but also his sister. Remember that you cannot say “no solo… pero también”, this does not exist in Spanish.

– “El sino”: this is a noun and means “the destiny”, “el destino”. You can use one or the other: “Era su destino ser presidente”. “Era su sino ser presidente”. “It was his destiny to be president”.

– “Si no”: when we write two words, this means “if not”. This form is used to express a condition: “Si no llueve, podemos ir a la playa”. “If it doesn’t rain, we can go to the beach”.

That’s it for the day! Go and practise now!