What is 'but' in "nothing but" ?
"It did nothing but make us ridiculous."
It means : "It did nothing but It did make us ridiculous."
Here, 'but' seems to be a conjunction.
But I know, 'but' is a preposition (meaning 'except') in the phrase 'nothing but'!
Again, if 'but' is a preposition, the verb following it should be in -ing from. But here the verb is in the base from - 'make'!
Then, what is the parts of speech of 'but' in the phrase "nothing but"?
Top answer
" ... "Here, 'but' seems to be a conjunction. Yes.
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Sandip Kumar"It did nothing but make us ridiculous." ...
"Here, 'but' seems to be a conjunction.
Yes. That's what I would call it.
Sandip Kumar'but' is a preposition (meaning 'except') in the phrase 'nothing but'
Not always, as you can see. Not in traditional grammar anyway. But it's quite possible that it c
0Sandip KumarThen, whatisare the parts of speech of 'but' in the phrase "nothing but"?
But is usually classified as a conjunction in the pattern "do nothing but (base form of verb)", an idiomatic grammatical pattern.
She was so sorry that she could do nothing but cry.
It did nothing but
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