Two different uses of but rather

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Two different uses of but rather

by Tega1984 » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:33 am
Here are two very similar(in the sense that both test the same thing) SC questions, one form OG verbal and other from the veritas prep test.

OG: The energy source on the Voyager 2 is not nuclear
reactor,in which atoms are actively broken apart;
rather
a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural
radioactive decay to produce power
A apart; rather(using a semicolon results in a sentence fragment)
B apart, but rather(correct)

Veritas: Machines powered by hydraulics are not driven by the steam
produced by boiling water, but rather high-pressure fluids
are transmitted throughout the machine to various motors and hydraulic cylinders.
A water, but rather(here but rather is incorrect because of BUT)
B water; instead (correct. semicolon connects two independent clauses)

Now, I understand that in the first question we have a dependent clause, therefore we should not use semicolon and in the second question semicolon connects two independent clauses. However, I don't understand why but rather is incorrect in the veritas question while it is correct in the OG question.
Source: — Sentence Correction |

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by Frankenstein » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:51 am
Hi,

The energy source on the Voyager 2 is not nuclear reactor,in which atoms are actively broken apart.
The energy source on the Voyager 2 is a kind of nuclear battery that uses natural radioactive decay to produce power.

In this case, subject is same for both the parts. So they can be joined by 'but rather'.
In idiomatic usage of "not X but rather Y", X and Y should be parallel.

Machines powered by hydraulics are not driven by the steam produced by boiling water.
High-pressure fluids are transmitted throughout the machine to various motors and hydraulic cylinders.
Independent clauses with different subjects. So, they are left like that.
Cheers!

Things are not what they appear to be... nor are they otherwise

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