Phrase · 🧲 Persuasion and rhetoric
No es que el plan sea malo, sino que llega tarde.
It's not that the plan is bad; it's that it comes too late.
C2reframing an objectionAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
No1adverbnotes1verbit isser · present · 3rd sing.que1conjunctionthateldeterminerthemasc. · sing. · definiteplannounplanmasc. · sing.sea1verbisser · subjunctive · present · 3rd sing.malo3adjectivebadmasc. · sing.,sino2conjunctionbut ratherque2conjunctionthatllega2verbit comesllegar · present · 3rd sing.tardeadverblate.
- No → sea: no es que + subjunctive: rejected reading
- sino → que: sino que: correction
- que → llega: sino que + indicative: the real point
- malo → plan: malo agrees with plan
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1No es que + subjunctive rejects a reading; sino que + indicative gives the real one. A classic reframing move. Mood alternation I: meaning changes and negation →
- 2After a negation, correct with sino, never pero. Before a verb: sino que. Mood alternation I: meaning changes and negation →
- 3malo = bad.
Variations
- No es que el plan sea malo; es que llega tarde.
- El plan no es malo: el problema es que llega tarde.
- No digo que el plan sea malo, sino que llega tarde.