▎不是 A，而是 B, (bú shì A, ér shì B), not A; rather B

 

Function This structure negates a claim and presents the correct answer. 而 is an adverb.

1 他喜歡的人不是王小姐，而是白小姐。

Tā xǐhuān de rén bú shì Wáng xiǎojiě, ér shì Bái xiǎojiě.

The one that he likes isn’t Miss Wang; rather, it’s Miss Bai.

2 我不是不想去參加校外教學，而是因為最近忙死了。

Wǒ bú shì bù xiǎng qù cānjiā xiàowài jiāoxué, ér shì yīnwèi zuìjìn máng sǐle.

It’s not that I don’t want to take part in the field trip; rather, it’s because I've been really busy lately.

3 這件衣服你不是用現金買的，而是刷卡買的，所以不能馬上退錢。

Zhè jiàn yīfú nǐ bú shì yòng xiànjīn mǎi de, ér shì shuākǎ mǎi de, suǒyǐ bù néng mǎshàng tuì qián.

You didn’t purchase this garment with cash. You bought it with a credit card, so the money can’t be refunded immediately.

4 他來台灣不是為了旅行，而是為了學中文。

Tā lái Táiwān bú shì wèile lǚxíng, ér shì wèile xué Zhōngwén.

He didn’t come to Taiwan to travel around; rather, he came to study Chinese.

5 我換新工作，不是因為薪水比較高，而是新公司離我家比較近。

Wǒ huàn xīn gōngzuò, bú shì yīnwèi xīnshuǐ bǐjiào gāo, ér shì xīn gōngsī lí wǒ jiā bǐjiào jìn.

I changed jobs, not because the salary is higher; rather, it’s because the new company is closer.

 

Usage 是 is a highly versatile element, sometimes a verb and sometimes a grammatical marker, like ‘be’ in English. As a marker, it is rather like ‘do’ in English, as in ‘He did do it.’ 是 is a marker in examples 2-5 above, in which 是 cannot be translated as ‘be’. 而 is also a high frequency grammatical element, always an adverb, which is slightly literary in style.