Understanding Aber and Sondern in German

Understanding Aber and Sondern in German ​Conjunctions are words that link two sentences. In German, they belong to the group of non-declinable words, which means that they never change, no matter what case you think you should use or what gender a following noun has. However, while in English you might only have one option, in German you will often find several possibilities to choose from.  Such is the case with aber and sondern, which your dictionary will most certainly translate both as but. Using but in German Take a look at the following sentences: The child didnt want to go home, but to the park. Das Kind will nicht nach Hause gehen, sondern zum Park. I dont understand what you say, but you will certainly be right. Ich verstehe nicht, was Sie sagen, aber Sie werden schon Recht haben. She is exhausted but doesnt want to go to sleep. Sie ist erschà ¶pft aber will nicht schlafen gehen. As you can see, both aber and sondern mean but in English. How do you know which but conjunction to use? It is actually quite simple: Aber, which means but or however,  is used after either a positive or negative clause. On the other hand, sondern is only used after a negative clause when expressing a contradiction. In other words, the first clause of the sentence must contain either nicht or kein, and the second part of the sentence must contradict the first part of the sentence. Sondern can be best translated as  but rather. Carusos Little Brother Helps You to Create Better Sentences One last thing: aber and sondern are so called ADUSO-words. ADUSO is an acronym for: Aaber (but)Ddenn (because)Uund (and)Ssondern (contradicting but)Ooder (or) Those conjunctions all take position zero in a sentence. To remember that, you might want to think of ADUSO as the little brother of Enrico Caruso, the great opera singer. But he never grew out of his famous brothers shadow and remained quite a loser. Imagine the o in loser as a zero to remember position zero. A Little Quiz Lets test your knowledge. Which German version of but would you use in the following sentences? Ich komme nicht aus England _____ aus Schottland. I dont come from England but from Scotland. Ich bin hungrig, _____  ich habe keine Zeit etwas zu essen. I am hungry, but I dont have time to eat something. Sie spricht drei Sprachen: Englisch, Russisch, und Arabisch, _____ leider kein Deutsch. She speaks three languages: English, Russian, and Arabic, but unfortunately no German. Wir htten gerne drei cheeseburger _____ ohne Zwiebeln. We would like (to have) three cheeseburgers but without onions. Er hat keinen Kartoffelsalat mitgebracht, _____  Nudelsalat. He didnt bring potato salad, but noodle salad. Er hat gesagt, er bringt Kartoffelsalat mit, _____ er hat Nudelsalat mitgebracht. He said, hed bring potato salad, but he brought noodle salad. Answers to the Quiz Ich komme nicht aus England,  sondern  aus Schottland.Ich bin hungrig,  aber  ich habe keine Zeit etwas zu essen.Sie spricht drei Sprachen: Englisch, Russisch und Arabisch  aber  leider kein Deutsch.Wir htten gerne drei Cheeseburger,  aber  ohne Zwiebeln.Er hat keinen Kartoffelsalat mitgebracht, sondern  Nudelsalat.Er hat gesagt, er bringt Kartoffelsalat mit,  aber  er hat Nudelsalat mitgebracht.