Question

Combine the sentences using "Not only... but also" conjunction:
She missed my birthday party. She did not care to explain the reason.

• A. She not only missed my birthday party, but also did not care to explain the reason.
• B. Not only she missed my birthday party, but also did not care to explain the reason.
• C. She missed not only my birthday party, but also did not care to explain the reason.
• D. She missed my birthday party, not only but also, did not care to explain the reason.

Answer 1

Answer: (A)

She not only missed my birthday party, but also did not care to explain the reason.

"Not only... but also" is a correlative conjunction which always appears in these word pairs. It is used to present two related pieces of information, with the second one being more surprising than the first. The most important rule to remember about using this conjunction is that both the pieces of information must be parallel structures. i.e. the words following both parts of this conjunction (i.e both "not only" and "but also") should belong to the same part of speech. For example, if a verb follows "not only", then a verb should follow "but also".

Option A: The phrase "Not only" is followed by "missed", which is a verb. The phrase "but also" is followed by "did not care", which is also a verb.Hence, this option is grammatically correct.

Option B: The phrase "Not only" is followed by "She", a pronoun. However, the phrase "but also" is followed by "did not care", which is a verb. Hence, this option is grammatically incorrect.

Option C: The phrase "Not only" is followed by the words, "my birthday party", which is a noun phrase. However, the phrase "but also" is followed by the words 'did not care", which is a verb. Hence, this option is grammatically incorrect.

Option D: Here, the word pairs - "not only" and "but also" follow each other in sequence without any words in between. This is grammatically incorrect.