HSK 4 grammar · conjunction
不是…而是
不是…而是… — not… but rather
Pattern
+ +
( ) can be left out · other words may come before, between and after
How it works
Corrects or replaces one idea (A) with the true one (B): it is not A, but instead B. Do not confuse it with 不是…就是 (either A or B); here 而是 rejects A outright and asserts B.
Examples
他不是老师，而是医生。
Tā bú shì lǎoshī, érshì yīshēng.
He's not a teacher, but a doctor.
问题不是钱，而是时间。
Wèntí bú shì qián, érshì shíjiān.
The problem isn't money, but rather time.
Related
See it in a story
In the app, 不是…而是 is underlined wherever it appears in the stories you read, and practised with sentences from them. Free.