不是…而是…grammar point · tier 2 · correction: not X, but rather Y
Negates a wrong account and substitutes the correct one in its place: not X, but rather Y.
字源 FORM what the parts do
不是 strikes out the wrong account; 而是 turns to the right one. 而 is a borrowed joining-word, the pivot between the two halves; 是 sets each as the claim being made. The false account sits after 不是, the true one after 而是.
故事 STORY a scene to remember it by
One hand sweeps the wrong card off the table; the other lays the right card down in its place.
字源記憶法
框 · Frame
不是 [wrong account]，而是 [correct account]
觸 · Trigger
You want to deny one explanation and put the real one in its slot — same question, replaced answer.
序 · The move
1Name the wrong account and put it after 不是.Is this the thing you are knocking down, not just any negative?
2Put the true account after 而是, parallel in shape to the first.Do the two halves answer the SAME question?
3Confirm the second half corrects, not merely adds.If it only adds a second true thing, you want 不但…而且…, not this.
例 · Examples
1改變命運的關鍵key, crux不是not (the wrong account)靠to rely on算命fortune-telling，而是but rather (the right account)靠自己的努力effort。
The key to changing your fate is not relying on fortune-telling, but rather relying on your own effort.
界 · Boundary
不但…而且…
不是…而是… REPLACES (the first half is false, only the second holds); 不但…而且… ADDS (both halves are true, the second piles on). Replacement vs accumulation.
不是…而是… denies one account and swaps in another to the same question; 雖然…但是… grants the first as true, then turns against it. Substitution vs concession.
✗ 他不是學生而且老師。 → ✓ 他不是學生，而是老師。 (correction needs 而是, not 而且)
✗ 不是因為累，但是不想去。 → ✓ 不是因為累，而是不想去。 (replace the reason with 而是, not concede with 但是)
✗ 我而是要茶，不是咖啡。 → ✓ 我不是要咖啡，而是要茶。 (the false account leads with 不是; the true one follows with 而是)
English 'not X but Y' lets 'but' carry the turn alone; Chinese needs the 是 in BOTH brackets — 不是…而是…, not 不…而…. Dropping either 是 breaks the frame.