Construction · C1 · Neutral · common in careful speech and writing
not so much … as …
not soh MUCH ... az ... Stress the two contrasted elements; much and as organize the correction between them.
Correct or refine a description by saying that the second explanation or quality is more accurate than the first.
ne toliko X koliko Y; pre Y nego X
Use it
Her reply was not so much rude as unexpectedly direct.
Rudeness is not completely denied, but directness is presented as the better description.
We need not so much a longer report as a clearer conclusion.
The construction redirects attention from one proposed solution to a more useful one.
Build the sentence
not so much + parallel X + as + parallel Y
Memory scene
Put X and Y on a balance: X stays on the scale, but Y drops lower because it is the truer description.
Watch out
Keep X and Y grammatically parallel: compare noun with noun, adjective with adjective, or clause with clause. The construction usually refines X rather than declaring it completely false.
Nearby language
The closest direct reformulation, often sounding more like a choice and less like a careful correction.
Makes an ordinary degree comparison; not so much X as Y more clearly replaces one interpretation with another.
Corrects wording after it has been stated, instead of building both alternatives into one frame.
Make it yours
Koleginica nije bila baš nepristojna; njen odgovor je pre svega bio iznenađujuće direktan.